The Republic of Srpska

Mr Željko Budimir was born in Sanski Most in 1977. He graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Banja Luka. He gained the academic degree of MA in Political Science in the narrow scientific field of International Relations at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Belgrade.

He worked at the ‘Telekom Srpske’ Jsc. Banja Luka, as the manager of the sector for legal affairs. 

In 2012, he started his academic career at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Banja Luka as a senior teaching assistant. After defending his doctoral dissertation entitled ’Geo-spatial factor in the classic geo-political studies’ at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, he gained the academic degree of PhD. He was promoted to the position of assistant professor at the University of Banja Luka in the narrow scientific field of international relations and international security, where he was in charge of several subject courses. The fields of his scientific interest are international relations, international security, geopolitics and strategic studies. 

In 2020, he became the advisor for international relations to the then Serb member of Presidency of BIH. From December 2022 to September 2025, he was the Minister of Scientific and Technological Development and Higher Education in the Republic of Srpska Government. He speaks English and Russian languages. He is active in shooting sports and he is one of the founders of practical shooting in the Republic of Srpska. He is Serb by ethnic designation. He is married and father of two daughters.