Who Is Zdravko Ponoš

Zdravko Ponoš (born 3 November 1962 in Golubić near Knin) is a retired Serbian lieutenant general, diplomat and politician. From December 2006 to December 2008 he served as Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, and today he leads the Serbia Centre (SRCE) party. He is best known as the joint opposition presidential candidate in the 2022 election, in which he finished second.

By profession he is an electronics engineer. He began his career as a young officer in 1986 and gradually rose through the military hierarchy. After his dismissal as head of the General Staff he worked in diplomacy alongside Vuk Jeremić, and since 2017 he has been active in politics. This biography follows his path from a village near Knin to the top of Serbia’s opposition.

Early Life and Childhood

Zdravko Ponoš was born on 3 November 1962 in the village of Golubić near Knin, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Croatia, part of Yugoslavia. Sources differ on one detail: most give Golubić, while some name Knin itself as the place of birth. He comes from a Serb family from Krajina and, besides Serbian citizenship, holds Croatian citizenship by birth.

He finished primary school in his home village. In the upper grades the pupils had just four teachers, who shared the subjects among themselves, and there was no school library. They borrowed books from their history teacher. Ponoš has one brother, and his father died shortly before the military operation “Storm” in 1995.

His choice of secondary school was guided by practical reasons. He wanted to learn a trade quickly so as not to burden his family, so he opted for technical and then military schooling. As a teenager he therefore left the village for Zagreb, where he lived in a boarding school.

Education

In Zagreb he enrolled in a secondary technical school and a land forces school. He later said the military calling appealed to him because it was “completely new and unknown”. At the boarding school he came to love the music of the Zagreb and Yugoslav rock scene, and he developed an interest in film and history.

He then enrolled at the Military Technical Academy in Zagreb and in 1986 graduated as an electronics engineer. After the academy he was offered the chance to stay on as an assistant, but he chose to work at the Military Technical Institute in Belgrade. He completed postgraduate studies in 1999 at the School of Electrical Engineering of the University of Belgrade. Sources differ on the exact field of his master’s thesis: some cite global navigation systems, others telecommunications.

He also trained abroad. He attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in London, a senior executive course at the George C. Marshall Center in Germany, and a European security course at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. He also passed the NATO English proficiency test STANAG 6001. In addition to English, he speaks Russian.

Beginning of His Military Career

Zdravko Ponoš began his military career in 1986, right after graduating from the academy. He first married in Zagreb and then came to Serbia because of his job. He spent his first years of service in electronic reconnaissance and anti-tank units, including in Užice and in Kosovo and Metohija.

During that period he also worked on electronically jamming Albanian television broadcasts from the territory of Kosovo and Metohija. He later said the task was rather futile, but that the army did not choose such assignments itself. From 1988 he worked in the Department of Development and Equipment in Belgrade, where he remained until 2002 and where he frequently cooperated with civilian institutes and companies.

At the start of the breakup of Yugoslavia he considered leaving the country, but in the end he stayed in service. During the 1990s, as he later said, he opposed the policies of Slobodan Milošević, yet he remained in the military system and continued to advance.

The 1999 Bombing and the Order of Merit

During the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999, Ponoš and his team used methods of detecting aircraft in order to avoid greater losses, particularly in Kosovo and Metohija. He himself described that phase of work as the brightest of his service.

After the bombing he was awarded the Order of Merit in the Field of Defence and Security. The decoration was presented by the then president of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milošević. Ponoš later showed the medal during a television appearance in the 2022 presidential campaign.

Rise Through the Military Ranks

He was promoted to colonel in 2000. After the change of government on 5 October 2000, he assessed that no real changes followed in the army. From 2002 he worked at the Ministry of Defence, where he was an adviser to several ministers, including Boris Tadić, the future president of Serbia. During that time he agreed to form a department for cooperation with NATO.

In 2004 he was appointed head of a directorate, and in October 2005 he became deputy chief of the General Staff of the Army of Serbia and Montenegro. That same year he was promoted to major general. He was one of the youngest members of the General Staff, oriented above all toward army reform and professionalisation.

After the dissolution of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro in June 2006, he joined the team of Defence Minister Zoran Stanković and worked on building an independent Serbian army. In this way he earned the trust of the political leadership, which later placed him in the army’s top post.

Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces

President of Serbia Boris Tadić appointed Zdravko Ponoš Chief of the General Staff on 13 December 2006, and by the same decision he was promoted to lieutenant general. He succeeded Ljubiša Jokić. Some analysts described his appointment as a package for faster European integration, given his pro-European profile.

During his first week in office he represented Serbia at the opening of the NATO liaison office in Belgrade. He advocated professionalisation of the army, higher officers’ salaries and cooperation with neighbours, the European Union and NATO. In October 2007 he stated that the army would not protect indicted persons sought by the Hague Tribunal. In December of that year, together with Minister Dragan Šutanovac, he toured the administrative line with Kosovo and Metohija and assessed that destabilisation of that part of Serbia was not expected.

During his tenure the Serbian Armed Forces developed cooperation with the Ohio National Guard under the American State Partnership Program. Ponoš also partly declassified minutes of the sessions of the Chief of the General Staff’s collegium. They showed that Slobodan Milošević and, to a lesser extent, Vojislav Koštunica planned to use the army for political purposes, especially in Montenegro. At the time the army enjoyed the highest public trust, and the weekly Vreme named him its Person of the Year for 2006.

Conflict with Dragan Šutanovac and Dismissal

Relations between Ponoš and Defence Minister Dragan Šutanovac became public at the end of 2008, when Ponoš stated in an interview that the ministry had stalled reforms and was encroaching on the army’s autonomy. Šutanovac rejected this, and Boris Tadić publicly said the defence system was stable.

Tadić sided with the minister and on 30 December 2008 dismissed Ponoš as Chief of the General Staff, explaining that he had violated military rules. Ponoš maintained that the dispute was not a matter of military expertise. Radio Free Europe journalist Branka Mihajlović described the dispute as a political showdown within the Democratic Party.

He was succeeded by Miloje Miletić. Ponoš remained in the army for another year without an assigned post, and President Tadić retired him on 31 December 2009.

Diplomatic Career and Work at CIRSD

At the beginning of 2010 the Serbian government appointed Zdravko Ponoš assistant minister of foreign affairs, while Vuk Jeremić held that office. He had cooperated with Jeremić since the early 2000s, when Jeremić was an adviser to Boris Tadić. In April 2010 he was part of a delegation that confirmed friendship with Libya, and in 2011 he opened an exhibition on the diplomatic relations between Serbia and France.

He continued working with Jeremić after the change of government in 2012. While Jeremić presided over the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Ponoš served as chief of his cabinet and lived in New York.

After returning to Belgrade, the two founded the Center for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (CIRSD). Jeremić was elected president, and Ponoš served as executive director and later as senior adviser. He was also a supervisory editor of the journal “Horizons”. In addition, he published professional papers, including one on satellite telecommunication systems in military use (1993, with Milan Šunjevarić) and a text on the transformation of the Serbian Armed Forces (2007).

Entry into Politics and the People’s Party

He entered politics in 2017, when he was on Vuk Jeremić’s campaign team in the presidential election. Jeremić won 5.65 percent of the vote at that time. In October of the same year Ponoš took part in founding the People’s Party (Narodna stranka), and at its first conference he was elected vice-president.

He advocated broader opposition coalitions. He took part in the 2018 Belgrade elections and was one of the opposition’s representatives during the protests of 2018 and 2019. In July 2019 he publicly supported boycotting the 2020 parliamentary elections, which was also adopted by the Alliance for Serbia, of which the People’s Party was part. In November 2019 he was re-elected vice-president of the party.

During 2021 he took part in inter-party dialogue on electoral conditions. In November 2021 he stepped down from the post of People’s Party vice-president, saying he was not ready for “rotten compromises”. At the time he publicly said he would run for president if the opposition united at all levels.

The 2022 Presidential Election

On 22 January 2022 the Party of Freedom and Justice proposed Ponoš as the joint opposition candidate, and the People’s Party and the Democratic Party backed the decision at the end of January. Marinika Tepić, Dragan Đilas, Vuk Jeremić, Borko Stefanović, Miroslav Aleksić and other leaders rallied around his candidacy. He was presented as the candidate of the “United for the Victory of Serbia” coalition on 2 February 2022, and the Republic Electoral Commission confirmed the candidacy on 6 March.

During the campaign he toured cities and municipalities across Serbia. He announced film director Srđan Dragojević and writer Siniša Kovačević as advisers. He presented himself as a pro-European candidate, while opposing Serbia’s NATO membership. During the campaign he was attacked by pro-government media and ruling-party MPs, which People’s Party vice-president Sanda Rašković Ivić also pointed out.

In the election of 3 April 2022, Aleksandar Vučić won in the first round with 58.59 percent of the vote, while Zdravko Ponoš finished second with about 18 percent, according to the electoral commission and CeSID. After the election he left the People’s Party, which was announced on 5 April.

Founding of the Serbia Centre (SRCE) Party

On 16 June 2022 Ponoš announced the creation of an organisation oriented toward accession to the European Union. The Serbia Centre (SRCE) movement was founded on 26 June and presented to the public on 6 July 2022. Its leadership was elected in December 2022, and Ponoš officially became president. In March 2023 signature collection began, and on 12 July 2023 SRCE was registered as a political party.

In August 2023 SRCE, the Democratic Party and Together signed a cooperation agreement. The party supported the “Serbia Against Violence” protests after the mass shootings of May 2023 and advocated forming a transitional government. Among its vice-presidents are Duško Lopandić and Slobodan Cvejić.

SRCE advocates a pro-European policy, action against climate change, a higher child allowance and reform of the pension system. Ponoš was re-elected party president in October 2025.

Member of Parliament and Opposition Work

In the parliamentary elections of 17 December 2023, Zdravko Ponoš was tenth on the “Serbia Against Violence” list. The list won 65 seats, nine of which went to SRCE. He took up his seat as a member of the National Assembly on 6 February 2024, when he also became head of the Serbia Centre parliamentary group.

Citing the electoral conditions, SRCE declined to take part in the repeated Belgrade elections of June 2024, and therefore ended up without councillors in the City Assembly. Since the start of the student protests in 2024 the party has supported them and called for a transitional government that would organise free elections. In May 2025 MP Slobodan Ilić left SRCE, reducing the parliamentary group to eight members.

In March 2025 Ponoš posted on the platform X a claim about the use of a sound cannon at a protest. The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office stated that the post was untrue, and in July 2026 the Criminal Police Directorate held an informative interview with him. Ponoš called it an attempt at intimidation.

The 2026 Elections

In June 2026 SRCE joined the Platform for a European Serbia together with the Party of Freedom and Justice. In the snap parliamentary elections held on 25 October 2026, SRCE ran with the Party of Freedom and Justice and Goran Ješić’s “Solidarity” movement on the list “European Serbia – Marinika Tepić – Zdravko Ponoš”. The list was submitted on 19 September, and Ponoš rejected calls to withdraw in favour of the Student List.

According to preliminary results from the Republic Electoral Commission, the “European Serbia” list won about 0.28 percent of the vote and did not cross the electoral threshold. The Student List received the most votes, about 52 percent. The results are preliminary and subject to confirmation by the electoral commission.

Political Views

Zdravko Ponoš describes himself as a centrist, with views that combine the centre-left and centre-right. He advocates Serbia’s membership in the European Union, military neutrality and cooperation with NATO through the Partnership for Peace, but not joining that alliance. He opposes recognition of the independence of Kosovo and Metohija and believes the issue should be addressed rather than left frozen.

He sharply criticises the policies of Aleksandar Vučić and the Serbian Progressive Party. Regarding the war in Ukraine, in 2022 he condemned the Russian invasion and supported sanctions against Russia. He believes that instead of mandatory conscription, officers’ salaries should be raised, and he has criticised the 2018 Law on the Army. For the presidential system he proposed electing the president in the National Assembly.

Personal Life

Zdravko Ponoš is married to Zdenka Ponoš, a Croat from Inđija, whom he met while living in Zagreb. They married in 1986, right after he finished the academy, and planned to live in Zagreb, but his job took them to Serbia. Details about his family are not widely public, so this biography does not cover them further.

He enjoys history, music, film, football and cartoons, and is known as a fan of the series “The Simpsons”. Besides Serbian, he speaks English and Russian.

Interesting Facts

• He first put on a uniform at the age of 14, at a military school in Zagreb.
• He is one of the youngest chiefs of a general staff in the region.
• In his youth he listened to the bands “Azra”, “Prljavo kazalište” and “Haustor”.
• Besides Serbian citizenship, he also holds Croatian citizenship, acquired by birth.
• He became the joint opposition candidate after long negotiations among party leaders.
• He has authored professional papers in the field of military communications and security.

Awards and Recognition

For his service during the 1999 NATO bombing he received the Order of Merit in the Field of Defence and Security. The weekly Vreme named him Person of the Year for 2006, when he took over the army’s top post.

Greatest Achievements

• He became Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces at 44, with the rank of lieutenant general.
• He led reforms and the professionalisation of the army after the breakup of the state union.
• He served as chief of cabinet to the President of the UN General Assembly.
• He finished second in the 2022 presidential election.
• He founded and registered the Serbia Centre party, which won nine parliamentary seats in 2023.

Legacy and Influence

Zdravko Ponoš remains recognisable as an officer who moved from the army into diplomacy and then politics. In the military he is remembered for advocating professionalisation and openness to European security structures, while in politics he became one of the prominent figures of the pro-European opposition.

His influence is reflected in efforts to unite the opposition around a joint candidate, as well as in his criticism of how the authorities treat the army. The failure of the “European Serbia” list in the 2026 elections raises the question of his further political path, to which only time will provide an answer.