MIROSLAV Lajčák (born in 1963) took up the job of Slovakia’s foreign and European affairs minister and deputy prime minister in April 2012, nominated by the Smer party, which won the general election.
It is Lajčák’s second time in the post, as he previously held it between January 2009 and July 2010, replacing Ján Kubiš, who left the cabinet of Robert Fico for a UN job.
In the meantime, Lajčák worked at the Brussels-based European External Action Service as its managing director for Europe and Central Asia.
Lajčák’s primary diplomatic focus is in the Balkans. Prior to becoming minister in 2009, he held the post of the High Representative and the EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (2007 – 2009).
Prior to that, he was the personal representative of the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy to facilitate the referendum on the independence of Montenegro.
Since the start of his diplomatic career in 1988 Lajčák held several positions in national diplomacy as well as in international organisations, including the post of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Republic to Japan and to Yugoslavia.
He also served as the assistant to the UN Secretary General Special Envoy for the Balkans (1999-2001).
Lajčák graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations’ Faculty of International Relations. He speaks English, Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian and German.
Source: Foreign Affairs Ministry,
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