FORMER foreign minister Miroslav Lajčák has been appointed the European External Action Service’s Managing Director for Russia, the Eastern Partnership and the Western Balkans by the head of EU diplomacy, Lady Catherine Ashton.
Lajčák will serve as one of Ashton’s six assistants, the third highest position in the European External Action Service. Lajčák’s previous experience in the region was cited as the reason for his selection to the post.
Before he became Slovakia’s foreign minister in 2009, he served as the High Representative for the UN and EU in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2001-2005 he was the envoy of Slovakia to Yugoslavia, Macedonia and Albania.
“It is a region to which I have devoted the biggest part of my professional career,” Lajčák said in response to his appointment. “Although it was my individual candidacy, I felt the support of the highest state actors, as well as from the Slovak foreign service. I consider it a huge responsibility, but a challenge as well .”
