Nada Kolundžija (; born 30 June 1952) is a Serbian politician. She has served several terms in the Serbian parliament, initially with the Democratic Alternative (DA) and later with the Democratic Party (DS). She was also a member of the federal assembly of Serbia and Montenegro from 2003 to 2004.
Kolundžija was expelled from the DS in 2020 against the backdrop of a larger purge of the party's membership. In 2022, she became a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDS).
She is not to be confused with a concert pianist of the same name.
Early life and career Kolundžija was born in Subotica, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. She graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences and was the secretary of Belgrade's Matica iseljenika centre from 1989 to 1998. She also worked in public relations and was an editor for the newspaper Blic.Who's who, , Democratic Alternative, 31 August 2002, accessed 23 October 2021.NADA KOLUNDŽIJA, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 23 October 2021.
Politician Democratic Alternative (1997–2004) Kolundžija participated in the 1996–1997 protests in Serbia and became a founding member of the Democratic Alternative in July 1997."Osnovno nacelo - ne zaboraviti coveka", Naša borba, 17 July 1997, accessed 17 March 2025. She was later chosen as a party vice-president.Who's who, , Democratic Alternative, 31 August 2002, accessed 23 October 2021.NADA KOLUNDŽIJA, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 23 October 2021.
The Democratic Alternative participated in the 2000 Yugoslavian parliamentary election as part of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a broad and ideologically diverse coalition of parties opposed to Slobodan Milošević's administration. Kolundžija appeared in the fourth and final position on the DOS's electoral list for the Belgrade division of Palilula.Izborna lista za Veće građana Savezne skupštine, , Democratic Opposition of Serbia, accessed 16 March 2025. The DOS won three seats in the division, and she did not receive a mandate.ИЗБОРИ 2000: ВЕЋЕ РЕПУБЛИКА И ВЕЋЕ ГРАЂАНА САВЕЗНЕ СКУПШТИНЕ, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Department of Statistics (2000), p. 37.
The 2000 Yugoslavian parliamentary election was overshadowed by the concurrent presidential election, in which Slobodan Milošević fell from power after his defeat by DOS candidate Vojislav Koštunica. This was a watershed moment in Serbian and Yugoslavian politics. Kolundžija was subsequently appointed to the board of directors for Radio Television of Serbia."Serbian deputy premier slams practices of Socialists in government," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European – Political, 20 November 2000 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat, 1240 gmt 19 Nov 00).
The Serbian government fell soon after Milošević's defeat in the Yugoslavian vote, and a new Serbian parliamentary election called for December 2000. Prior to the vote, Serbia's electoral system was reformed so that the entire country became a single electoral unit and all mandates were assigned to candidates on successful lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties or coalitions, irrespective of numerical order.Serbia's Law on the Election of Representatives (2000) stipulated that parliamentary mandates would be awarded to electoral lists (Article 80) that crossed the electoral threshold (Article 81), that mandates would be given to candidates appearing on the relevant lists (Article 83), and that the submitters of the lists were responsible for selecting their parliamentary delegations within ten days of the final results being published (Article 84). See Law on the Election of Representatives, Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 35/2000, made available via LegislationOnline, , accessed 13 April 2024. Kolundžija was given the sixtieth position on the DOS's list, which won a landslide victory with 176 out of 250 mandates, and was included in her party's delegation when the assembly met in January 2001.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 23. децембра 2000. године и 10. јануара 2001. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (4 Демократска опозиција Србије – др Војислав Коштуница (Демократска странка, Демократска странка Србије, Социјалдемократија, Грађански савез Србије, Демохришћанска странка Србије, Нова Србија, Покрет за демократску Србију, Лига социјалдемократа Војводине, Реформска демократска странка Војводине, Коалиција Војводина, Савез војвођанских Мађара, Демократска алтернатива, Демократски центар, Нова демократија, Социјалдемократска унија, Санxачка демократска партија, Лига за Шумадију, Српски покрет отпора – Демократски покрет), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.PRVA KONSTITUTIVNA SEDNICA, 22.01.2001., Otvoreni Parlament, 22 January 2001, accessed 18 July 2021. She served as a supporter of Serbia's government and was president of the assembly's foreign affairs committee.Детаљи о народном посланику: КОЛУНЏИЈА , НАДА, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 16 March 2025.
The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was restructured as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in early 2003. A new unicameral parliament was established for the entity, and its first members were chosen by indirect election from the republican parliaments of Serbia and Montenegro. The Democratic Alternative had the right to appoint two members to the federal assembly, and its nominees were party leader Nebojša Čović and Kolundžija.PETO VANREDNO ZASEDANJE, 25.02.2003., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 23 October 2021.
The DA contested the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election on its own, and Kolundžija appeared in the eighty-ninth position on its list, which did not cross the electoral threshold for assembly representation.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (4. ДЕМОКРАТСКА АЛТЕРНАТИВА - НЕБОЈША ЧОВИЋ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024. Her terms in both the federal and republican parliaments ended in early 2004. She left the DA after a falling out with Čović and joined the Democratic Centre (DC), which in turn merged into the Democratic Party shortly thereafter.Nada Kolundžija, Zelena stolica, accessed 23 October 2021.
Democratic Party (2004–20) Kolundžija appeared in the fifty-eighth position on the Democratic Party's list for the Belgrade city assembly in the 2004 Serbian local elections.Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 48 Number 24 (8 September 2004), p. 3. The list won a plurality victory with thirty-four seats; she did not take a seat in the assembly.Službeni List (Grada Beograda), Volume 48 Number 34 (29 November 2004), pp. 1-2.In the 2004 local elections, the first one-third of mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order, and the remaining two-thirds were assigned to candidates on the lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties and coalitions. Kolundžija could have been awarded a mandate despite her relatively low list position. See Law on Local Elections (June 2002) , Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 33/2002; made available via LegislationOnline, , accessed 7 April 2024.
She later appeared in the 111th position on the DS's list in the 2007 parliamentary election and was given a mandate for a second assembly term when the list won sixty-four seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 Демократска странка - Борис Тадић), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024."Spisak poslanika za Skupštinu Srbije", Politika, 13 February 2007, accessed 24 December 2024. After the election, the DS formed an unstable coalition government with G17 Plus and the rival Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS). Kolundžija became the leader of the DS's parliamentary group and served on the committee on foreign affairs and the committee on constitutional issues.ДЕТАЉИ О НАРОДНОМ ПОСЛАНИКУ: КОЛУНЏИЈА, НАДА], , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 17 March 2025."Serbian MPs urge debate on Kosovo, oppose territory's division," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 6 July 2007 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbian 1228 gmt 5 Jul 07). She criticized the DSS's harsh rhetoric against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), arguing that it was detrimental to Serbia's interests during international discussions on the status of Kosovo."Anti-NATO rhetoric damages Serbia's interests, Democratic Party official says," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 18 August 2007 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 1028 gmt 18 Aug 07). Kolundžija was profiled by the news agency Beta in late 2007 and was described as "an extremely capable and determined politician.""Serbian news agency profiles Democratic Party chief whip," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 2 November 2007 (Source: Beta Week, Belgrade, in English 1 Nov 07).
The DS–DSS coalition fell apart in early 2008, and a new parliamentary election was held in May of that year. The DS contested the election at the head of the For a European Serbia (ZES) alliance; Kolundžija appeared in the eighty-eighth position on its list and received a mandate for a third term when it won a plurality victory with 102 seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (1 ЗА ЕВРОПСКУ СРБИЈУ - БОРИС ТАДИЋ), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.R. Ognjanović, "U klupama novi poslanici", Novosti, 10 June 2008, accessed 29 June 2022. The overall results of the election were inconclusive, and ZES eventually formed a new government with the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS). Kolundžija led the ZES group in the assembly and supported the choice of Mirko Cvetković as prime minister."Serbian PM nominee seen as 'quiet technocrat', maybe 'too tolerant for' post," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 28 June 2008 (Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 0735 gmt 28 Jun 08). She also continued to serve on the foreign affairs committee and the constitutional affairs committee and was a member of Serbia's delegation to the assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the parliamentary friendship groups with Russia and the United States of America.НАДА КОЛУНЏИЈА, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 17 March 2025.
In 2010, she played a prominent role in ensuring the Serbian assembly's approval of a declaration condemning the 1995 Srebrenica massacre."Serbia holds landmark Srebrenica debate," Agence France Presse, 30 March 2010. Later in the same year, she described Serbian president Boris Tadić's diplomatic visit to Vukovar as an important step in improving relations between Serbia and Croatia."Serbian media, politicians comment on Tadic's visit to Vukovar," HINA, 4 November 2010.