Zdravko Ponoš (; born 3 November 1962) is a Serbian politician, former diplomat, and retired lieutenant colonel general who served as chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces from 2006 to 2008.
Born in Golubić, a village near Knin, Ponoš later moved to Zagreb, where he spent most of his youth and obtained a degree in electronic engineering. Ponoš moved to Serbia in 1986, where he began his military career. Two years later, he obtained a job at the Department of Development and Equipment in Belgrade, where he worked until 2002. Ponoš then acquired a position at the Ministry of Defense, where he served as an advisor to multiple ministers, including future president Boris Tadić. In 2005, he was promoted to the rank of major general after having served as a colonel since 2000, and also became deputy chief of the General Army. A year later, Tadić promoted him to become the chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces. As chief of the General Staff, Ponoš worked on army reforms and professionalisation, though this process stagnated in late 2008 due to a conflict with defense minister Dragan Šutanovac, which led to his dismissal in December 2008. Ponoš was retired as an army officer a year later.
After leaving the military, Ponoš worked as a diplomatic assistant to foreign affairs minister Vuk Jeremić, whom he previously worked with in the Serbian government. Their cooperation continued after 2012, and Ponoš served as chief of Jeremić's cabinet during his mandate as president of the UN General Assembly. After returning from the United States, they formed the Center for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development, with Ponoš initially serving as executive director and later as a senior advisor.
Ponoš entered politics in 2017 after participating in Jeremić's campaign team during the presidential election, and later that year, they founded the People's Party. He was a vice-president of the party until November 2021 and was the nominee of the United for the Victory of Serbia coalition in the 2022 Serbian presidential election, in which he placed second. He left the People's Party after the election and formed the Serbia Centre organisation in July 2022, which became a registered party a year later. He was elected to the National Assembly in the 2023 election. A centrist politician, he is in favour of the accession of Serbia to the European Union and military cooperation with NATO. He also criticised Aleksandar Vučić and the government's approach towards foreign relations and military.
Early life and education Zdravko Ponoš was born on 3 November 1962 in Golubić, a village near Knin, in the PR Croatia, Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He comes from a Serb family. He finished elementary school in Golubić and moved to Zagreb in his youth, where he finished secondary technical school and attended land forces high school. He decided to continue with military school, later stating that "it was something completely new and unknown". Ponoš enrolled in a technical military academy in Zagreb, where he obtained a degree in electronic engineering in 1986. He finished his postgraduate studies in 1999 at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Electrical Engineering, with a master's degree in Global Navigation Systems. During his time at the University of Belgrade, he published his work regarding Global Navigation Systems in a notable Japanese magazine. He attended the Royal College of Defense Studies in London and also completed courses in Switzerland and Germany. He had also completed STANAG 6001, a NATO course.
Military career 1980s–1990s Ponoš's military career began in 1986. After finishing military academy in Zagreb, he was offered a position there as an assistant, but he rejected the offer, instead choosing to work at the Military Technical Institute in Belgrade. Ponoš was stationed in Užice and SAP Kosovo. During that time, he worked on jamming TV Tirana broadcasts in Kosovo, later stating that "the job was rather futile, but the army did not assign those tasks themselves". He was stationed in Kosovo until 1988, when he decided to move back to Belgrade to work at the Department of Development and Equipment. He described his job as "interesting", and that it was mainly concentrated on intensive contacts with civic institutes and companies. By the 1990s, he had already moved to Serbia, and during the beginning of the break-up of Yugoslavia, he thought of leaving the country, but ended up staying. During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, he and his team used methods of detecting aircraft flying overhead to prevent greater losses, especially in AP Kosovo and Metohija. He described it as "the brightest phase of our work". Following the bombing, Ponoš was awarded the Order of Merit in the Field of Defense and Security by Yugoslav president Slobodan Milošević.
2000s Ponoš was promoted to colonel in 2000 and five years later he became a major general. He experienced polarisation in the army during the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević, stating that "effective changes did not occur in the army after the 5 October revolution". He worked at the department until 2002, and shortly after he began working at the defense ministry. He had served as an advisor to Boris Tadić while he was the head of the defence ministry. During his time at the defence ministry, he was offered to form a "cooperation department with NATO" which he accepted. He described his time under Tadić as "a successful collaboration". Ponoš remained in that position until 2004, when he was appointed as chief of the directorate. In 2005, he became the deputy chief of the army. As deputy chief, he was primarily orientated towards army reform and professionalisation, and after the dissolution of Serbia and Montenegro in 2006, he joined the team led by minister Zoran Stanković to continue the reforms. At that time, he was one of the youngest members of the general staff.
Chief of the General Staff (2006–2008) Ponoš was appointed by Tadić, by then president of Serbia, as the chief of the General Staff on 13 December 2006. He was also promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. His appointment was described by academics as "a package for faster access to European integration" due to his status as a pro-Western general. As chief of the general staff, he continued his support for army reform and professionalisation, and also stated his support for higher salaries for army officers and for army cooperation with neighbouring countries, European Union and NATO.
During his first week as chief of the general staff, he represented Serbia during the opening of the NATO liaison office in Serbia. Dragan Šutanovac replaced Stanković as defence minister in May 2007. Four days later, Ponoš travelled to the United States where he met with the US chief of staff. Ponoš commented in October that "the army would not protect war criminals that were convicted by ICTY". Later in December, Ponoš and Šutanovac stayed for several days near administrative lines with Kosovo to observe the situation, which they later stated to be "peaceful" and that "destabilization in this part of Serbia would not be expected to occur". In October 2008, he met with army representatives of Turkey and Norway. A month later, he expressed his support to change the Kumanovo Agreement.
A conflict between Ponoš and Šutanovac became public after Ponoš stated in an interview that reforms were allegedly stopped by the ministry, and that Šutanovac allegedly violated military's autonomy. Shortly after, Tadić stated that "the defense system is stable" during an interview. Tadić then decided to side with Šutanovac in this conflict, and he dismissed Ponoš on 30 December, after alleging that he had violating military rules. Ponoš was previously called by conservative politicians to resign due to his reforms and pro-Western views. This had sparked media attention in April 2007. Radio Free Europe journalist Branka Mihajlović had considered the conflict to be a "political showdown within the Democratic Party".
Under Ponoš, the Ohio Army National Guard and Serbia cooperated and engaged in military drills under the auspices of the US State Partnership Program; the program was implemented in September 2007, shortly before his appointment as chief of the General Staff. Ponoš declassified parts of the transcripts from the sessions of the collegium of the chief of the General Staff revealing that Slobodan Milošević and later, to a lesser extent, Vojislav Koštunica, planned to use the army for political purposes, especially in Montenegro. During his time as chief of the General Staff, the army held highest approval ratings according to the Serbian public. He was succeeded by Miloje Miletić in February 2009.
Retirement After his dismissal as chief of the General Staff, Ponoš stayed in the army for another year, although unallocated. Ponoš expressed a wish to become an assistant for Vuk Jeremić's foreign affairs ministry, although Šutanovac stated that "he does not intend to propose his retirement to Tadić" and he suggested Ponoš should resign from his position in the defence ministry. He was retired by president Tadić on 31 December 2009.
Political career Early period
His interest into politics developed while he was reading the newspaper Borba, and during his time at the army in the 1990s, he opposed the regime of Slobodan Milošević. He met Tadić during the early 2000s, with whom he had a discussion regarding the army during their first encounter. During the campaign period for the 2008 elections, Ponoš stated that "frequent elections do not negatively affect army reforms".
Shortly after his retirement from the military, he became an assistant to Jeremić. Ponoš previously cooperated with Jeremić during the early 2000s while Jeremić served as an advisor to Tadić. In April 2010, he was a part of the delegation that confirmed the friendship with Libya. Ponoš opened an exhibition in June 2011 to promote the history of diplomatic relations between France and Serbia. He continued to work for Jeremić after the change of government in 2012. He later became the chief of Jeremić's cabinet while he was the president of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly. During that time, he resided in New York City. After coming back to Belgrade, Ponoš and Jeremić founded the Center for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development (CIRSD). Ponoš held the position of executive director, while Jeremić was elected as president. He later served as senior advisor.
Contemporary career After his army and diplomatic careers, Ponoš entered politics in 2017, and participated in Jeremić's campaign team during the 2017 presidential election. Jeremić placed fourth, winning 5.65% of the popular vote. Later that year in October, he participated in the foundation of the People's Party. He was elected as vice-president at the first party conference.