Juraj Blanár (born 16 May 1966) is a Slovak politician. He is currently the minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia. He served as a

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the National Council from 2002 to 2006 and again from 2010 to 2023. Blanár was a Deputy Speaker of the National Council from 2020 until 2023. Between 2005 and 2017 he served as the governor of the

Žilina Region The Žilina Region (; ; ) is one of the eight Regions of Slovakia, Slovak administrative regions and consists of 11 districts (okresy) and 315 municipalities, from which 18 have a town status. The region was established in 1923, however, in its p ...

. He is a member of the

Direction – Social Democracy Direction – Social Democracy (, Smer–SD), also commonly referred to as Smer, is a left-wing nationalism, left-wing nationalist and left-wing populism, left-wing populist political party in Slovakia led by the incumbent Prime Minister of Slov ...

party.

Early life

Juraj Blanár was born on 16 May 1966 in

Žilina Žilina (; ; ; ; Names of European cities in different languages: U-Z#Z, names in other languages) is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the List of cities ...

. He studied at the University of Žilina. Before starting his political career, Blanár worked for the construction company Váhostav in his hometown.

Political positions

Foreign policy

Regarding the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Blanár opposes military help for Ukraine and supports improving diplomatic relations with Russia. He was one of the few Slovak MPs who did not vote for a parliamentary resolution condemning Russian killings of Ukrainian civilians passed after the Bucha massacre. In 2022, then Foreign Affairs minister of Slovakia Ivan Korčok accused Blanár of supporting Russian conquest of Ukraine. Blanár later strongly opposed the defense agreement with the United States, arguing that it will eventually lead to US bases on Slovak soil.

Social issues

Blanár is

pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the lega ...

and supported initiatives aimed at reducing access to abortion in Slovakia. In March 2023, on the question of closure of shops on

Sunday Sunday (Latin: ''dies solis'' meaning "day of the sun") is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. Sunday is a Christian sabbath, day of rest in most Western countries and a part of the Workweek and weekend, weekend. In some Middle Ea ...

s, Blanár spoke in favour of the ban with conditions.

Personal life

Blanár is married and has three children.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanár, Juraj People from Žilina Direction – Social Democracy politicians 1966 births Living people Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2002-2006 Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2010-2012 Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2016–2020 Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2012–2016 Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2020–2023 University of Žilina alumni