Darko Milinović
Darko Milinović (born 25 April 1963) is a Croatian politician and gynecologist who served as Minister of Health and Social Welfare from 2008 until 2011. Biography. Milinović was born in Gospić. After graduating from the University of Zagreb School of Medicine in 1987, Milinović went on to specialise gynaecology, passing his specialty exam in 1996. He spent most of his professional career practicing in his home town of Gospić, and from 1998 to 2002 he held the post of the Gospić General Hospital director. After joining the centre-right Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) in the 1990s he obtained  his first political post when he was appointed a member of the Gospić city council in 1998. In 2000 he was made member of the HDZ central committee and from 2000 to 2002 was head of HDZ in the city of Gospić. From 2002 to 2003 he held the office of deputy head of the Lika-Senj County. Following HDZ's victory in the 2003 parliamentary elections Milinović was elected to the Croatian Parliament. From 2003 to 2008 he held posts of Deputy Speaker of the Parliament and was a member of the parliamentary committee for family affairs, youth and  sports. After HDZ won the 2007 elections Milinović was appointed Minister of Health and Social Welfare in the new cabinet headed by Prime Minister Ivo Sanader on 12 January 2008, replacing Neven Ljubičić who had held the post from 2005 to 2008. Following Sanader's abrupt resignation on 1 July 2009, the cabinet was reconstructed and Milinovć retained his post in the new cabinet headed by Sanader's successor, Jadranka Kosor, which was officially announced on 6 July 2009.