Janez Lenarčič (born November 6, 1967) is a

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

n diplomat who has been serving as European Commissioner for Crisis Management in the

Von der Leyen Commission The von der Leyen Commission is the current European Commission, in office since 1 December 2019 and is to last until the 2024 elections. It has Ursula von der Leyen as its president and it further consists of one commissioner from each of the ...

since 2019. He is a former Director of the

Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) dealing with the " human dimension" of security. The Office, originally named Office for ...

within the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

Early life and education

Lenarčič holds a degree in international law from the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana ( sl, Univerza v Ljubljani, , la, Universitas Labacensis), often referred to as UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 39,000 enrolled students. History Beginnings Although certain ...

, 1992.European Commission, CV
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Career in diplomacy

Lenarčič entered the Slovenian foreign service in 1992 . His first posting in 1994-1999 was at the Mission of Slovenia to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

in New York. From 2000 to 2001 Lenarčič worked as adviser to the foreign minister and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Janez Drnovšek Janez Drnovšek (; 17 May 1950 – 23 February 2008) was a Slovenian liberal politician, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1989–1990), Prime Minister of Slovenia (1992–2002, with a short break in 2000) and President of Slovenia (2 ...

. From 2002 to 2003 he served as secretary of state in the office of the prime minister. Lenarčič was ambassador of Slovenia to the

(OSCE) in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

from 2003 to 2006, and chaired the OSCE Permanent Council in 2005 during the Slovenian chairmanship. From 2006 to 2008 Lenarčič was secretary of state for European affairs, including representing Slovenia during the

Lisbon Treaty The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member sta ...

negotiations in 2007 and later representing the Slovenian EU Council Presidency to the European Parliament in 2008. Lenarčič then moved to

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

as Director of the OSCE's

(ODIHR) until 2014. In 2014 Lenarčič was named secretary of state in the cabinet of the Slovenian

Miro Cerar Miroslav Cerar Jr. (, known as Miro Cerar ;) is a Slovenian law professor and politician. He was Prime Minister of Slovenia, leading the 12th Government. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 13th Governmen ...

. In 2016 he moved to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

as Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the EU.

Member of the European Commission, 2019–present

In 2019 Lenarčič was nominated by

Marjan Šarec Marjan Šarec (born 2 December 1977) is a Slovenian politician, actor and comedian who served as prime minister of Slovenia from 2018 to 2020. He has served as the minister of defence in the government of Prime Minister Robert Golob since 1 June 2 ...

(Renew Europe) for the post of Slovenia's European Commissioner in the Commission led by

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding suc ...

. In early March 2020, Lenarčič was appointed by von der Leyen to serve on the Commission's special task force to coordinate the European Union's response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

.Laura Kayali, Paola Tamma and Hans von der Burchard (April 9, 2020)
France’s freewheeling Thierry Breton rises to the crisis
''

Politico Europe ''Politico Europe'' (stylized as ''POLITICO Europe'') is the European edition of the German-owned news organization ''Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices ...

''.

Awards

Lenarčič received France's highest award, the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

References

External links

CV at the Slovenian Government's website

Janez Lenarčič takes up job as new ODIHR director
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenarcic, Janez 1967 births Government ministers of Slovenia Living people OSCE ODIHR directors Diplomats from Ljubljana Permanent Representatives of Slovenia to the United Nations Slovenian European Commissioners University of Ljubljana alumni European Commissioners 2019–2024