EU SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE BELGRADE-PRISTINA DIALOGUE AND OTHER WESTERN BALKAN REGIONAL ISSUES AT THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Miroslav Lajčák is the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues, a position he assumed on 2 April 2020.Having  dedicated  his  professional  life  to diplomacy,representingboth  the  Slovak  Republic  and  the international community,Miroslav Lajčák has more than 30 years of experience in foreign policy. In his national capacity, Mr. Lajčák served as Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republicfor four mandates, a position he first held from 2009 to 2010. From 2012 to 2016, he served as both Foreign  Minister  and  Deputy  Prime  Minister  of  Slovakia.  He  was  reappointed  as  Foreign Minister  in  2016  and  2018  respectively,  and  left  office  in  March  2020.  He also  was  twice Slovak Ambassador, firstto Japan,and then to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, FYROM and to Albania. A key figure in the mediation of the post-conflict crises in the Western Balkans, Mr. Lajčák served as Executive Assistant to the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Balkansfrom 1999 to 2001. He also negotiated,  organized  and  supervised  the  referendum  on  the  independence  of  Montenegro  in 2006 on behalf of the European Union.From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Lajčák served as High Representative  of  the  International  Community  and European Union Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.From 2010 to 2012, Mr. Lajčák helped shape the newly formed diplomatic service of the European Union, the European External Action Service, as its Managing Director for Europe and Central Asia.Representing  the  international  community,  he  served  as  President  of  the  72ndSession  of  the  UN General Assemblyin 2017-2018. Healsoserved as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office during Slovakia’s 2019 OSCE Chairmanship.Mr Lajčák received  five  honorary  doctorates  from  foreign  universities  and  is  a  frequent  speakerat international conferences and events

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