The first-ever openly LGBT+ minister has been named to the Serbian cabinet. Ana Brnabic, who was named Serbian businesswoman of the year in 2013, is slated to become the minister of public administration and local government. She will be the first openly LGBT+ person to serve as a cabinet minister in the Balkan region of Europe.
Brnabic has previously worked for a number of multinational corporations, and established the National Alliance for Local Economic Development in the country. Her ministerial portfolio will include a reorganization of the Serbian bureaucracy along lines mandated by the European Union. Prime Minister Aleksander Vučić’s government has made eventual membership in the EU a priority.
Brnabic’s appointment to a cabinet led by the centre-right Serbian Progressive Party was somewhat unexpected, given that she has no political affiliation. LGBT+ rights campaigners have hailed the move as a major milestone in a country that still sees high levels of anti-LGBT+ sentiment.