Imre Kern (; born 1949) is a Serbian administrator and politician from the country's Hungarian community. He was president of the Subotica city assembly's executive board from 1992 to 2002 and was the city's deputy mayor from 2020 to 2024. Kern was also a delegate in the Vojvodina provincial assembly from 2000 to 2004, a deputy provincial secretary in the Vojvodina government from 2002 to 2004, and a state secretary in the Serbian government from 2014 to 2020. He is a member of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMSZ).
Early life and private career Kern was born in Bačka Topola, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He completed elementary and high school in Subotica, graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy in 1974, and worked for the chemical firm Zorka in Subotica from 1974 to 1992. He was responsible for the construction of a new fertilizer factory and held various leadership roles in the factory.Kern Imre (Имре Керн), City of Subotica, accessed 30 July 2025.
From 2004 to 2007, Kern was the project manager for the construction of a wastewater treatment plant in Subotica. From 2007 to 2014, he was deputy director of Vojvodina's capital investment fund.Kern Imre (Имре Керн), City of Subotica, accessed 30 July 2025.
Politician Early years in Subotica (1992–2000) Kern was elected to the Subotica city assembly as an independent candidate in the May 1992 Serbian local elections, the first to be held after the country's de jure return to multiparty democracy in 1990.Magyar Szó, 23 May 1992, p. 8.Magyar Szó, 3 June 1992, p. 10. During the 1990s, Serbia's political culture was dominated by the authoritarian rule of Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) leader Slobodan Milošević and his allies, and many opposition parties boycotted the May 1992 elections on the grounds that conditions for a fair vote did not exist. The Democratic Fellowship of Vojvodina Hungarians (VMDK), at the time the leading party in Serbia's Hungarian community, chose to participate, arguing that it did not want the SPS to win by default in predominantly Hungarian areas.Milan Milošević, "Round Table of the Government and Opposition", Vreme, 18 May 1992, accessed 18 May 2025. Subotica was one of the relatively few jurisdictions where the opposition was successful: the VMDK finished first with twenty-six seats out of sixty-seven and afterward formed a coalition government with the Democratic Alliance of Croats in Vojvodina (DSHV). Incumbent mayor József Kasza of the VMDK was confirmed for a new term in office on 29 June 1992, and Kern, who was aligned with the new administration, was chosen as president of the city assembly's executive board on the same day, effectively becoming prime minister of the city government.Magyar Szó, 24 June 1992, p. 14.Magyar Szó, 30 June 1992, p. 7.
Due to widespread doubts about the legitimacy of the May 1992 elections, the Serbian government called new local elections for December 1992. This time, most opposition parties chose to participate. Kern was re-elected to the Subotica assembly as an independent candidate endorsed by the VMDK.Magyar Szó, 15 December 1992, p. 12.Magyar Szó, 23 December 1992, p. 7. The VMDK-DSHV alliance won an increased victory in the city overall, and on 12 January 1993 Kasza was confirmed for a third term as mayor and Kern for a second term as executive board president.Magyar Szó, 13 January 1993, pp. 1, 5. Subotica remained one of the few cities in Serbia governed by the opposition.
The VMDK experienced a serious split in 1994, with several leading party members, including Kasza, leaving to form the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians. Kern became a member of the new party.
The 1996 local elections in Subotica did not produce a clear winner. Although the VMSZ was the largest party in the new assembly, the Socialists and their allies significantly improved their standing, and no party or alliance commanded a working majority. Kasza was confirmed for a fourth term as mayor on 3 January 1997, but members of rival parties were chosen for deputy mayor roles.Magyar Szó, 4 January 1997, pp. 1, 7. Kern, who was re-elected to the assembly as a VMSZ candidate,Magyar Szó, 19 November 1996, p. 5. was chosen for a third term as executive board president by a secret ballot on 21 January 1997, after a long and contentious debate.
Kern appeared in the sixth position (out of six) on the VMSZ's electoral list for the Subotica division in the 1997 Serbian parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године – ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (5 Суботица), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024. The list won three seats, and he was not chosen for a mandate.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године – РЕЗУЛТАТИ ИЗБОРА (Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за народне посланике у Народну скупштину Републике Србије, одржаних 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године (Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997.) године, , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 February 2024.PRVA SEDNICA, 03.12.1997., Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 30 July 1997. (From 1992 to 2000, Serbia's electoral law stipulated that one-third of parliamentary mandates would be assigned to candidates from successful lists in numerical order, while the remaining two-thirds would be distributed amongst other candidates at the discretion of the sponsoring parties.Guide to the Early Election , Ministry of Information of the Republic of Serbia, December 1992, made available by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, accessed 14 July 2017. It was common practice for the latter mandates to be awarded out of order. Kern could have been awarded a mandate despite his list position, but, in the event, he was not.)
The 2000 elections and after (2000–14) In 2000, the VMSZ joined the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a coalition of parties opposed to the continued rule of Slobodan Milošević and his allies. DOS candidate Vojislav Koštunica defeated Milošević in the 2000 Yugoslavian presidential election, and Milošević subsequently fell from power on 5 October 2000, a watershed moment in Serbian and Yugoslavian politics.
The DOS, led locally by the VMSZ, also won a landslide victory in Subotica in the 2000 Serbian local elections, which took place concurrently with the Yugoslavian vote. When the new assembly met on 17 October 2000, Kasza was chosen for a fifth term as mayor, and Kern was chosen for a fourth term as executive board president.Magyar Szó, 28 September 2000, p. 7.Magyar Szó, 18 October 2000, p. 1.
Kern was also elected to the Vojvodina assembly for Subotica's seventh division in the 2000 provincial election, which was held concurrently with the Yugoslavian and local elections. The DOS and VMSZ won a landslide majority victory, and he served afterward as a supporter of the administration.Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за посланике у Скупштину Аутономне Покрајине Војводине одржаних 24. септембра и 8. октобра 2000. године, Provincial Election Commission, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, accessed 30 March 2025.
In 2002, Kern was appointed as deputy provincial secretary for environmental protection and sustainable development.Kern Imre (Имре Керн), City of Subotica, accessed 30 July 2025. He stood down as president of Subotica's executive board on 16 May 2002.Službeni List (Opštine Subotica), Volume 38 Number 17.
Serbia's electoral laws were reformed after the fall of Milošević; among several other changes, subsequent local elections took place under proportional representation and Vojvodina provincial elections under mixed proportional representation. Kern appeared in the second position on the VMSZ's electoral list for the 2004 Serbian local elections and was re-elected when the list won sixteen seats, placing first among the eleven parties or alliances that won representation in the city assembly.Službeni List (Opštine Subotica), Volume 40 Number 39 (8 September 2004), p. 2.Službeni List (Opštine Subotica), Volume 40 Number 43 (20 September 2004), pp. 1-3.In the 2004 local elections, the first one-third of mandates were awarded to candidates on successful lists in numerical order. See Law on Local Elections , Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 33/2002; made available via LegislationOnline, accessed 29 May 2021. Kern was automatically re-elected. He served as a supporter of the local VMSZ-led administration for the next four years and was not a candidate in the 2008 local elections.
Kern also appeared in the twenty-third position on the VMSZ's electoral list in the 2004 Vojvodina provincial election.РЕШЕЊЕ О УТВРЂИВАЊУ ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ ЗА ИЗБОРЕ ЗА ПОСЛАНИКЕ У СКУПШТИНУ АУТОНОМНЕ ПОКРАЈИНЕ ВОЈВОДИНЕ, 19. СЕПТЕМБРА 2004. ГОДИНЕ, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The party won six proportional seats, and he was not given a mandate for a second term.Одлука о укупним резултатима избора за посланике у Скупштину Аутономне Покрајине Војводине, , Provincial Election Commission, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, accessed 9 August 2025.Convocation 2004 - 2008, Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, accessed 3 December 2021.
He was given the tenth position on the VMSZ's electoral list in the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election and the seventy-sixth position on the VMSZ-led Hungarian Coalition list in the 2008 parliamentary election.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (8 Савез војвођанских Мађара - Јожеф Каса), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024.Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 11. маја 2008. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (7 МАЂАРСКА КОАЛИЦИЈА - ИШТВАН ПАСТОР), , Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 7 April 2024. The lists won three and four seats in the Serbian parliament, respectively, and he was not chosen for a mandate on either occasion."Spisak poslanika za Skupštinu Srbije", Politika, 13 February 2007, accessed 24 December 2024.R. Ognjanović, "U klupama novi poslanici", Novosti, 10 June 2008, accessed 29 June 2022. (From 2000 to 2011, all Serbian parliamentary mandates were assigned to candidates on successful lists at the discretion of the sponsoring parties, irrespective of numerical order. Kern could have been assigned a seat on either occasion despite his list position, but he was not.)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 7 April 2024.