that it would have been much worse without it, adding that it sent an important message; "If you commit a war crime, you will be caught." Pusić expressed her concern about the wave of cynicism in current national and international politics. In addition, she stated that being a female candidate was important, and noted that the UN had been dominated for 50 years by men. After receiving 11 'discourage' votes on a first informal closed-door straw poll of the 15-member UN Security Council that was held on 21 July 2016, Pusić decided on 4 August 2016 to withdraw from the race and focus on the 2016 extraordinary parliamentary elections. Activism Vesna Pusić is very popular in the Croatian LGBT community. In 2011, Zagreb Pride attenders awarded her with the "gay friendly person of the decade". She has been regular attendant at Zagreb LGBT pride. Her brother Zoran is a civil rights and peace activist, serving as President of the Civic Committee for Human Rights, and chairman of the Anti-Fascist League of the Republic of Croatia since 21 March 2015. Private life Pusić is married to a Lithuanian-American entrepreneur Jurgis Oniunas with whom she has a daughter Daina who is a film director. She speaks Croatian, English, and German fluently. In 2017 French President François Hollande awarded Pusić with the highest order of France, Legion of Honour for "advocating European goals and contributing to the co-operation between France and Croatia." During the awarding ceremony held on 17 January 2018 in the residency of the French Ambassador in Zagreb, French ambassador to Croatia Philippe Meunier stated: "You knew how to convey the European values and the tolerance we share, our shared values - your condemnation of hate speech, your interest in cooperating with minorities, your concern for the value of cultural and ethnic diversity in Croatia, and your humane speech about accepting refugees." Bibliography Democracies and Dictatorships, Durieux, Zagreb 1998 The Leaders and the Managers, Novi Liber, Zagreb 1992 Industrial Democracy and Civil Society, Sociološko društvo Hrvatske, Zagreb 1986. Industrial Democracy in Europe, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1981 (co-author) European Industrial Relations, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1981 (co-author) References External links |- |- |- 1953 births Living people Politicians from Zagreb Candidates for President of Croatia Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats politicians Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb alumni Female foreign ministers Foreign ministers of Croatia Representatives in the modern