Tomislav Nikolić (, ; born 15 February 1952) is a Serbian retired politician who served as the president of Serbia from 2012 to 2017. A former member of the far-right Serbian Radical Party (SRS), he disassociated himself with the party in 2008 and formed the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) which he led until 2012. Born in village Bajčetina near Kragujevac, Nikolić was a long-time member of parliament for SRS. He served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia from 1998 to 1999 and Deputy Prime Minister of FR Yugoslavia in the coalition government from 1999 to 2000. Nikolić was the deputy leader of SRS from 2003, and he briefly served as the President of the National Assembly of Serbia in 2007. In 2008, he resigned following a disagreement with party leader Vojislav Šešelj regarding Serbia's relations with the European Union, as Nikolić became in favour of Serbia's accession to the EU, a move that was staunchly opposed by Šešelj and his faction. Nikolić formed SNS, which several SRS members joined. Nikolić ran for President of Yugoslavia in the 2000 elections and placed third. He also ran four times for President of Serbia (in 2003, 2004, 2008, and 2012 elections). In 2003, he garnered the most votes, but the election was cancelled due to low turnout, while in 2004 and 2008 he was placed second behind Boris Tadić. In 2012, he won the run-off against Tadić to become President of Serbia. Early life Tomislav Nikolić was born in Kragujevac. His father, Radomir, was a labourer, and his mother, Živadinka (née Đoković), was a housewife. In his youth, he trained in athletics. He completed secondary technical school in Kragujevac. His first employment was as a cemetery supervisor. In 1971 he began working with the building construction company "Žegrap", and in 1978 he worked for the company "22 December" in Kragujevac as head of the Investment and Maintenance Department. He was also Technical Director of the Utility Services company in Kragujevac. He and his wife Dragica (née Ninković) have two sons. Political career Radical Party Nikolić began his political career as vice-president of the People's Radical Party. Under his initiative, a fraction of the People's Radical Party merged with Vojislav Šešelj's Serbian National Renewal to form the Serbian Radical Party. Šešelj was elected president of the new party and Nikolić as vice-president. The party had been described by some as a Chetnik party