Miroslav Lajčák

Miroslav Lajčák
Foreign Minister of Slovakia
In office 26 January 2009 – 9 July 2010
Prime Minister	Robert Fico
Preceded by	Ján Kubiš
Succeeded by	Mikuláš Dzurinda
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina
In office 30 June 2007 – 26 March 2009
Preceded by	Christian Schwarz-Schilling
Succeeded by	Valentin Inzko
Personal details
Born	20 March 1963 (1963-03-20) (age 48) Poprad, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia)
Nationality	Slovak
Religion	Roman Catholic

Dr. Miroslav Lajčák (born on 20 March 1963 in Poprad, Czechoslovakia) is a Slovak diplomat.

Lajčák is a law graduate from the Comenius University in Bratislava. He holds a Ph.D. in international relations from the State Institute of International Relations in Moscow and is also a graduate of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.^[1]

He joined the Czechoslovak foreign ministry in 1988. Between 1991 and 1993 Lajčák was posted to the Czechoslovak and subsequently the Slovak embassy in Moscow. Lajčák was Slovakia’s ambassador to Japan between 1994 and 1998. Between 1993 and 1994 he served as the chef de cabinet of Slovakia’s then Foreign Minister and later Prime Minister, Jozef Moravčík. Between 2001 and 2005, Lajčák was based in Belgrade as Slovakia’s Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (later Serbia and Montenegro), Albania and the Republic of Macedonia. He was the EU's supervisor to the 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum.^{[citation needed]}

On 30 June 2007 Lajčák became the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina/EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina succeeding Christian Schwarz-Schilling to the post.^[2] He kept this post until March 2009.

On 16 December 2007 he received the Person of the Year award from one of the largest Bosnian dailies "Nezavisne novine".^[3] Two weeks later, on 28 December, he was awarded the same title by another Bosnian daily "Dnevni Avaz".^[4]

On January 26, 2009 Lajčák became the Foreign Minister of Slovakia,^[5] until July 2010.

In December 2010 he was appointed as Managing Director for Russia, Eastern Neighbourhood and the Western Balkans in the EU's External Action Service.^[6]

He is fluent in English, German, Russian, Bulgarian, as well as Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian languages.^[7] Lajčák's second wife Jarmila Lajčáková-Hargašová is a TV news presenter.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

1. ^ http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/infoBios/setimes/resource_centre/bio-archive/lajcak_miroslav
2. ^ http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/de/Laenderinformationen/Slowakei/090310-AntrittsbesuchAM,navCtx=31296.html
3. ^ "Lajčák is person of the year in Bosnia" (in Slovak). SME. December 16, 2007. http://www.sme.sk/c/3639595/Lajcak-je-v-Bosne-Osobnost-roka.html. Retrieved 2008-04-25. "Article in Nezavisne novine: [1]" 
4. ^ "Lajčák person of the year again" (in Slovak). SME. December 29, 2007. http://www.sme.sk/c/3654947/Slovensky-spravca-Bosny-opat-Osobnostou-roka.html. Retrieved 2008-04-25. 
5. ^ http://www.consilium.europa.eu/showPage.aspx?id=1293&lang=en
6. ^ http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/679&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
7. ^ http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/infoBios/setimes/resource_centre/bio-archive/lajcak_miroslav

Political offices
Preceded by Christian Schwarz-Schilling	High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina	Succeeded by Valentin Inzko
Preceded by Ján Kubiš	Foreign Minister of Slovakia	Succeeded by Mikuláš Dzurinda

Persondata
Name	Lajcak,Miroslav
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	20 March 1963
Place of birth	Poprad, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia)
Date of death
Place of death