Ivan Penava (born December 31, 1974 in Vukovar) is a Croatian professor of kinesiology and a politician who was the mayor of Vukovar from 2014 to 2025. After returning to Vukovar, he worked as a physical education teacher at the School of Economics, and after eight years he became the director of that school. In 2010, he received his doctorate at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb with the topic of harmonizing education with the labor market. He is married and is the father of two children.
Key events in Ivan Penava’s career:
- 1974. Born in Vukovar.
- 1999. He graduated in kinesiology at the Faculty of Kinesiology in Zagreb.
- 2010. He received his doctorate in economics at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb.
- 2014. Elected as the mayor of Vukovar (won Željko Saba in the second round).
- 2017 re-elected mayor of Vukovar with 61.72% of votes.
- 2020. left the HDZ, organized a veterans’ protest and founded his independent list.
- 2021. He joined the homeland movement of Miroslav Škora and was elected president of the party.
- 2024. He became the vice-president of the Croatian Parliament as a representative of the Homeland Movement.
political career
Ivan Penava started his political career in the ranks of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). In the early elections in 2014, he ran for mayor of Vukovar as a representative of the HDZ coalition and defeated the then mayor of the SDP, Željko Saba. In the second term (repeated elections in 2017), he won as much as 61.72% of the votes, and voters then elected him with the hope of reconciling divisions in the city. However, during his mandate, his attitudes became more and more harsh towards the Serbian minority in Vukovar.
In May 2020, after ten years in the HDZ, Penava left the party, expressing his disappointment with the HDZ policy towards the city of Vukovar. The exit from the HDZ culminated in the holding of a large protest of veterans in September 2020, after which he himself left the party with all the city councilors. He soon founded his own independent list, and in 2021 he joined the Homeland Movement (DP) of Miroslav Škora – at an extraordinary parliament in October 2021, he became the president of the DP. Penava was elected as a member of parliament in the 2020 and 2024 parliamentary elections. Since May 2024, he has held the position of vice-president of the Croatian Parliament, thus becoming one of the five leading officials in the parliament.
Controversies and political views
During his mandate in Vukovar, Penava developed harsher rhetoric towards national minorities. For years, he contested constitutional provisions on the rights of minorities – for example, he ignored the constitutional law and the statute of Vukovar and demonstratively rejected the bilingual Cyrillic plates, thereby abolishing the official use of the Cyrillic alphabet in the city. The public was also caused by the incident of the publication of a video of Serbian children sitting during the singing of the Croatian national anthem at the match, which was a move condemned by the Ombudsman for Children.
Penava often criticizes the SDSS and its leader Milorad Pupovac, calling them nationalist promoters of ‘Greater Serbian’ politics. Such a populist and exclusive style of communication made him a controversial figure: while some see in him the guardian of the rights of the Homeland War and a fighter for the interests of Vukovar, others accuse him of inciting inter-ethnic tensions. Regardless, he remains a prominent representative of the conservative and right-wing political spectrum in Croatia.
personal life
Ivan Penava comes from the family of Herzegovinian Croats (his parents are from Posušje). The family lives in Vukovar. The media also wrote on several occasions about the affairs of his family members – for example, in 2019, it was discovered that his father bought land on the route of the future bypass of Vukovar, and his wife bought real estate with modest incomes. Penava is a member of the Catholic Church and speaks English well. In his free time, he is allegedly active in sports associations in Vukovar, and history records that he was a national rowing representative.
Conclusion
Ivan Penava remains a prominent political actor, especially in the eastern part of Croatia. After decades spent at the head of Vukovar, as the president of the Homeland Movement and vice-president of the Parliament, he continues to play an important role in Croatian politics. His career shows the transition from a local school teacher to a national party leader. In the future, his views and decisions (whether in Parliament or party politics) will certainly affect the political climate, especially in matters of national and patriotic issues. Follow the news for further news about Ivan Penava and the development of his political initiatives.
Sources: The relevant information presented in this article is supported by the statements and biographies of Ivan Penava. Furthermore, data on his education and career are taken from verified sources such as local newspapers and official biographies. Cyrillic and other problematic issues in Vukovar are documented in the media and legal sources mentioned in the quotes.
Cover photo: pixsell, CC BY 3.0, Via Wikimedia Commons
