Raif Dizdarević, former President of Yugoslavia, dies in Sarajevo

Raif Dizdarević, the former President of the Presidency of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and a prominent diplomat, has passed away in Sarajevo at the age of 100.

Born in Fojnica in 1926, Dizdarević joined the National Liberation Movement in 1943 as a teenager. Following World War II, he served in security services before transitioning to a distinguished diplomatic career in 1951. He held various posts in the embassies of Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia.

His political career included serving as the President of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1978 to 1982, President of the Assembly of Yugoslavia from 1982 to 1984, and Federal Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1984 to 1987. He reached the highest state office as the President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia from May 1988 to May 1989, leading the country during a period of intense economic crisis and rising nationalism.

In his later years, Dizdarević lived in Sarajevo and became a noted author, writing memoirs such as ‘Od smrti Tita do smrti Jugoslavije’ (From the Death of Tito to the Death of Yugoslavia) and ‘Vrijeme koje se pamti’ (Time That is Remembered).