Dragan Popović was born in Kraljevo, Serbia, in 1980. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Belgrade, earning a master’s degree in international law. In 2024, he received a PhD in history from the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade with a dissertation titled “Changes in Memory Policy and Memory Culture in Europe – The Serbian Case 1980–1990.” Popović is the country consultant for Serbia at the European Endowment for Democracy. He has worked in several civil society organizations, including the Youth Initiative for Human Rights, where he held various roles such as researcher, program coordinator, program director, deputy director, and executive director. He is the founder and president of the Policy Center and a member of the Governing Board of the Human Rights House in Belgrade.
He has published numerous studies, analyses, and articles in the fields of memory culture, human and minority rights, the rule of law, civil society, and transitional justice. His main areas of expertise include dealing with the past, media freedom, conflict prevention, normalization of Serbia–Kosovo relations, and the rule of law in Serbia, as well as transitional justice processes in the Western Balkans. He published books Rat sećanja u Srbiji 1980-1990. Uspon nacionaliza i otpor (Memory War in Serbia 1980-1990. Rise of Nationalism and Resistance), XX vek, 2024; Losing humanity - Srebrenica as a historical fact, ProPeace/UMHIS, 2025 and Prelomne godine – Srpski nacionalizam i Jugoslavija 1980-1990 (The Pivotal Years: Serbian Nationalism and Yugoslavia, 1980–1990), Most Art Jugoslavija, 2026.
He has led several research projects in the Balkans, covering topics such as anti-discrimination policies and legal frameworks, transitional justice mechanisms, the human rights situation in Serbia, Kosovo, and Montenegro, and the position of national minorities in these countries. He has also organized and conducted numerous training courses, seminars, workshops, and conferences in the fields of human and minority rights, transitional justice, regional cooperation, and government accountability.
