Vladimir Zaharijev (; born 5 October 1962) is a Serbian politician from the country's Bulgarian community. He is one of Serbia's longest-serving mayors, having been the mayor of Bosilegrad in the country's southeastern corner on a continuous basis since 2001. He was also a member of the Serbian parliament from 2004 to 2007 and the president of Serbia's Bulgarian National Council from 2014 to 2018.
A member of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) for many years, Zaharijev is now the leader of To Smo Mi, a national minority party of the Bulgarian community.
He is known for projecting a larger-than-life personality and has attained a certain notoriety on YouTube for videos of his dancing at public ceremonies and weddings."What is Bosilegrad without Zaharijev?", Vreme, 9 July 2024, accessed 6 February 2025.
Early life and career Zaharijev was born in Bosilegrad, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. His biography indicates that he earned a degree from the Faculty of Natural Sciences (at an unspecified institution) and received the title of "Expert in the Field of Natural and Technical Sciences."VLADIMIR ZAHARIJEV, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 6 February 2025. He has worked as a programmer and was a private entrepreneur in the 1990s.PREDSEDNIŠTVO, , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 6 February 2025.Vladimir Zaharijev, Delphi Economic Forum IX, 2024, accessed 6 February 2024, accessed 6 February 2025.
Politician Mayor and parliamentarian Democratic Party of Serbia Zaharijev first became the mayor of Bosilegrad following the off-year 2001 local elections, in which the Democratic Party of Serbia won a majority victory with eighteen out of thirty-one seats in the municipal assembly."U većini opština moguće koalicije", , Glas javnosti, 6 November 2001, accessed 31 January 2025."What is Bosilegrad without Zaharijev?", Vreme, 9 July 2024, accessed 2 February 2025.
He received the thirty-fourth position on the DSS's electoral list in the 2003 Serbian parliamentary election and was given a national assembly mandate when the list won fifty-three seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 28. децембра 2003. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (3 ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА СРБИЈЕ - ВОЈИСЛАВ КОШТУНИЦА), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024."Skupština čeka demokrate", , Glas javnosti, 13 January 2004, accessed 28 December 2024. (From 2000 to 2011, Serbian parliamentary mandates were awarded to sponsoring parties or coalitions rather than to individual candidates, and it was common practice for the mandates to be assigned out of numerical order. Zaharijev was not automatically elected by virtue of his list position.)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. He took his seat when the assembly convened in January 2004.PRVA SEDNICA, 27.01.2004., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 28 January 2025.
The DSS emerged from the 2003 election as the leading party in Serbia's coalition government, and Zaharijev served in parliament as a government supporter. He was a member of the foreign affairs committee and the committee on interethnic relations.Детаљи о народном посланику: ЗАХАРИЈЕВ, ВЛАДИМИР, , National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 6 February 2025.
Serbia introduced the direct election of mayors with the 2004 local election cycle. Zaharijev was re-elected as mayor of Bosilegrad, winning a landslide victory in the second round of voting.
He appeared in the 101st position on a combined list of the DSS and New Serbia (NS) in the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (5 Демократска странка Србије - Нова Србија - др Војислав Коштуница), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024. The list won forty-seven seats, and he was not given a mandate for a second term."Spisak poslanika za Skupštinu Srbije", Politika, 13 February 2007, accessed 24 December 2024. In the 2008 parliamentary election, he received the seventy-first position on a follow-up DSS–NS list and again did not receive a mandate when the alliance fell to thirty seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (3 Демократска Странка Србије - Нова Србија - Војислав Коштуница), , 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 direct election of mayors proved to be a short-lived experiment and was abandoned with the 2008 Serbian local elections, which were held concurrently with the parliamentary vote. Since this time, mayors have been chosen by the elected members of Serbia's city and municipal assemblies. The DSS won a majority victory in Bosilegrad with nineteen of thirty-one seats in 2008, and Zaharijev was chosen for a third term as mayor.Lokalni Izbori 2008, Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia, p. 79. He remarked on this occasion that it was "better in Bosilegrad than in the [national] assembly.""What is Bosilegrad without Zaharijev?", Vreme, 9 July 2024, accessed 6 February 2025.
Serbia's electoral system was reformed in 2011, such that all mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order.Law on the Election of Members of the Parliament (2000, as amended 2011) (Articles 88 & 92) made available via LegislationOnline, , accessed 6 June 2021. Zaharijev appeared in the eighty-ninth position on the DSS's list in the 2012 parliamentary election; election from this position was not a realistic possibility, and he was not elected when the list won twenty-one seats.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине, 6. мај 2012. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (6 ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА СРБИЈЕ - ВОЈИСЛАВ КОШТУНИЦА), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024. He also led the DSS's list for Bosilegrad in the concurrent 2012 Serbian local elections and received a fourth term as mayor when the party won another majority victory with eighteen seats.ЛОКАЛНИ ИЗБОРИ 2012., Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia, p. 94.Službeni Glasnik (Grada Vranja), Volume 19 Number 18 (29 May 2012).
Zaharijev received the sixty-first position on the DSS's list in the 2014 parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 16. и 23. марта 2014. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (3 Демократска странка Србије - Војислав Коштуница), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024. On this occasion, the list fell below the electoral threshold for assembly representation.
To Smo Mi Zaharijev established a new political party called To Smo Mi prior to the 2016 local elections. There were conflicting reports on whether he actually left the DSS at this time; some media coverage claimed that he did, though he responded that the DSS's constitution permitted him to establish a separate political movement for a national minority community."Zaharijev napustio DSS i priprema samostalnu listu", Blic, 28 March 2016, accessed 6 February 2025.Vladimir Zaharijev, istinomer.rs, accessed 6 February 2025.D. Bukvić, "I dalje sam u DSS-u, ali na izbore izlazim sam", Politika, 30 March 2016, accessed 6 February 2025. In any event, To Smo Mi effectively absorbed the DSS organization in Bosilegrad and won twenty-one out of thirty-one seats in the 2016 local elections. He continued to serve as mayor afterward.Službeni Glasnik (Grada Vranja), Volume 23 Number 12 (26 April 2016).
For the 2020 Serbian local elections, Zaharijev brought his party into an alliance with the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).Službeni Glasnik (Grada Vranja), Volume 27 Number 19 (10 June 2020), p. 647. The alliance won an overwhelming victory in Bosilegrad with thirty out of thirty-one seats, and he was chosen afterward for a sixth mayoral term.Lokalni Izbori – Republika Srbija, Lokalni Izbori 2020, Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Serbia, p. 68. He maintained the SNS alliance into the 2024 local elections and further extended his mayoral tenure when the alliance again won thirty seats.ИЗБОРНА ЛИСТА КАНДИДАТА ЗА ОДБОРНИКЕ СКУПШТИНЕ ОПШТИНЕ БОСИЛЕГРАД АЛЕКСАНДАР ВУЧИЋ-БОСИЛЕГРАД СУТРА-ВЛАДИМИР ЗАХАРИЈЕВ, Local Election 2 June 2024, Bosilegrad Municipal Election Commission.ИЗВЕШТАЈ О РЕЗУЛТАТИМА ИЗБОРА ЗА ОДБОРНИКЕ СКУПШТИНЕ ОПШТИНЕ БОСИЛЕГРАД ЗА СВАКО БИРАЧКО МЕСТО, Bosilegrad Municipal Election Commission, 11 June 2024, accessed 6 February 2025.
In 2024, he identified his main accomplishments as mayor as developing the local infrastructure (including roads), improving healthcare by establishing cooperation with the military medical academies of Serbia and Bulgaria, improving social protection for vulnerable citizens, and accepting migrants from war-torn countries.Vladimir Zaharijev, Delphi Economic Forum IX, 2024, accessed 6 February 2024, accessed 6 February 2025.
Bulgarian National Council The state union of Serbia and Montenegro introduced a number of national minority councils in 2003, including one for the Bulgarian community; when the state union dissolved in 2006, it was renamed as the Bulgarian National Council of Serbia. During this time, delegates were chosen by electoral colleges of prominent community members and academics. Zaharijev served as a member of the Bulgarian council in this period.СЪСТАВ НА НАЦИОНАЛНИЯ СЪВЕТ НА БЪЛГАРСКОТО МАЛЦИНСТВО, , Bulgarian National Council of Serbia, accessed 6 February 2025.
Serbia introduced direct elections for most national minority councils, including the Bulgarian council, in 2010. Zaharijev fielded a list called For Our Bosilegrad, which finished a close second against the Bulgarian Community for a European Serbia list led by Zoran Petrov of Dimitrovgrad."O REZULTATIMA GLASANJA ZA IZBORE NACIONALNIH SAVETA NACIONALNIH MANJINA 6. JUNA 2010. GODINE", Službeni Glasnik (Republika Srbija), br. 40/2010, accessed 31 January 2025. Petrov was chosen as council president on 3 July 2010.Programme Annual Report 2010-11, The European Partnership with Municipalities – PROGRES, p. 14. Four years later, Zaharijev's list defeated Petrov's in a rematch.Избори за чланове националног савета бугарске националне мањине, одржани 26. октобра 2014. године (непосредни избори) – Резултати избора (Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за чланове Националног савета бугарске националне мањине), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 31 January 2025. The council formed a "unity administration" after the election, with Zaharijev as president and Petrov as one of its vice-presidents."Zaharijev novi predsednik Nacionalnog saveta Bugara", Južne vesti, 25 November 2014, accessed 31 January 2025.
Zaharijev led the To Smo Mi list to a landslide victory in the 2018 council election, winning seventeen out of nineteen seats.Укупни резултати избора за националне савете националних мањина – Национални савет БУГАРСКЕ националне мањине (Извештај о укупним резултатима избора), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 6 February 2025. He stood down as council president in December 2018 and was replaced by Stefan Stojkov."Стефан Стойков е новият председател на Националния съвет на БНМ в Сърбия", FAR, 27 December 2018, accessed 6 February 2025.