Gojko Šušak

Who was Gojko Šušak?

Gojko Šušak was a Croatian politician who held the post of defence minister from 1991 to 1998. A Bosnian Croat emigreé to Canada, he rose to prominence in the Croat diaspora in North America, eventually becoming a close friend and associate to Franjo Tuđman, leader of the Croatian Democratic Union, a nationalist party seeking Croatia's independence from Yugoslavia. Following the adoption of multi-party democracy in 1990 Šušak returned to the country and after Tuđman became President of Croatia in 1991, Šušak became defence minister, an office he held throughout the Yugoslav Wars. He played a leading role in the Croatian involvement in the Bosnian War, supporting the Herzeg-Bosnia entity in the Croat-Bosniak War, and later helping broker the Dayton Agreement. During his term in office he forged close contacts with the United States.