Portrait: Who is Alma Zadić, Austria's New Federal Minister of Justice?

Dr. Alma Zadić, LL.M., now 35 years old, was born on 24 May 1984 in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Former Yugoslavia). Fleeing from the war, she came to Austria together with her parents at the age of 10.

As a Bosnian-born Austrian law graduate of the Universities of Vienna and Columbia, atheist, former lawyer at Freshfields and green politician, since 7 and 29 January 2020 respectively, she is the first Austrian Federal Minister of Justice with a migration background.

She does not like being called a "refugee child" at all, but she has obviously learned to deal with it.

"Being perceived as different makes people vulnerable", Ms. Zadic said in an interview with The New York Times.

In the magazine "News" she said: "Children with a history of migration often grow up believing they do not belong. As a result, they either try to deny one identity or emphasize the other. It is not a struggle that children should have to fight because it is perfectly OK to be both," she described the challenge.

From a report in The New York Times, it can be concluded that she - like many others before her - learned in the melting pot NYC that there are many things you can be and that you don't have to choose a background. She simply calls herself "Bosnian-Austrian".

Furthermore she says about herself: "When I fled to Austria with my family as a 10-year-old girl because of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we were welcomed." Now she has gone into politics, "to give back to society what I also got - opportunities!"

The following can be read about herself on the website of the Austrian Green Party:

"With passion and all my strength I am committed to a policy where the human being is at the centre, a policy that is unconditionally committed to human rights and social justice. For a functioning constitutional state in which agitation and division have no place.

I left my profession as a lawyer and went into politics because I wanted to show that diversity and cohesion make us strong. When I fled to Austria with my family as a 10-year-old girl because of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we were accepted.

I want everyone, regardless of their social or national background, regardless of their religion or gender, to have the same opportunities in life. This is about equal opportunities for every child, regardless of whether their parents are poor or rich or where they come from."