Former Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, President of the 72nd
Session of the United Nations General Assembly (2017–2018) and former EU Special
Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues
Miroslav Lajčák is a distinguished diplomat with over three decades of experience representing
both the Slovak Republic and the international community. He served four terms as Minister of
Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, also holding the position of Deputy Prime
Minister from 2012 to 2016. His extensive diplomatic career includes ambassadorships to Japan,
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Albania. He
played a pivotal role in conflict resolution in the Western Balkans, notably overseeing
Montenegro’s 2006 independence referendum on behalf of the European Union and serving as
High Representative and EU Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2007–2009).
From 2020 to 2025, he served as the European Union Special Representative for the Belgrade-
Pristina Dialogue and other regional issues in the Western Balkans.
Dr. Lajčák has held several high-ranking international positions, including President of the 72nd
Session of the United Nations General Assembly (2017–2018) and Chairperson-in-Office of the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe during Slovakia’s 2019 Chairmanship. From
2010 to 2012, he was instrumental in establishing the European External Action Service as its first
Managing Director for Europe and Central Asia.
A graduate of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and Comenius University in
Bratislava, he has been awarded five honorary doctorates and has received numerous
international distinctions. He regularly delivers lectures at leading academic institutions. Currently
he is a part-time professor at the European University Institute in Florence, where he teaches a
course about EU Foreign and Security Policies in a post-Western World. He remains actively
engaged in international diplomacy through advisory, including the International Advisory Board of
the European Forum Alpbach and the International board of GLOBSEC.
He was born on 20 March 1963 in Poprad, Slovakia. He is married and has two daughters.