Urban Rusnák (born 9 September 1967 in

Košice Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of app ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

) is a Slovak

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

. He holds a

M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

from the Moscow University of Oil and Gas, and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in Public Administration and Political Sciences from the Institute of Social Sciences of

Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...

. Rusnák wrote his thesis on the Geopolitics of Oil and Gas in the Caspian region.

Diplomatic service

He joined the

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

foreign ministry and its diplomatic corps in 1992. Following the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

and the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993, he decided to stay with the newly formed Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Soon after he was assigned his first diplomatic mission, in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, . Rusnák was the first Director of the International Visegrad Fund (IVF), a fund supporting in the cultural and political cooperation of the four countries involved in the

Visegrád Group The Visegrád Group (also known as the Visegrád Four, the V4, or the European Quartet) is a cultural and political alliance of four Central European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. The alliance aims to advance co-o ...

. Under his leadership the Fund gained significant recognition in the four respective nations and rapidly increased in size. Rusnák served as the extraordinary and plenipotentiary

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

of the

Slovak Republic Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

from 2005 to 2009. During his service in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, he was involved in the resolution of the

2009 Russia–Ukraine gas dispute In 2009, Russian natural gas company Gazprom refused to conclude a supply contract unless Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz paid its accumulating debts for previous gas supplies. The dispute began in the closing weeks of 2008 with a series of faile ...

, which caused a significant disruption of gas deliveries to the eastern countries of the EU such as

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. On 29 November 2011, Rusnák was elected as the General Secretary of the

Energy Charter Secretariat The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is an international agreement that establishes a multilateral framework for cross-border cooperation in the energy industry, principally the fossil fuel industry. The treaty covers all aspects of commercial energy ...

Academics

Rusnák is a lecturer and author of professional articles on the topics of international relations, energy security and development. He was a Lecturer at the Kyiv Slavonic University (2005–2009) and at the International Relations Faculty of the

University of Economics in Bratislava The University of Economics in Bratislava ( sk, Ekonomická univerzita v Bratislave) is the oldest university of economics in Slovakia. History The university was established in 1940 as a private university under the name Vysoká obchodná škol ...

(2000–2003). He also made guest appearances at

University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mech ...

and

Uzhhorod National University Uzhhorod National University ( uk, Ужгородський національний університет) (full name - State University "Uzhhorod National University") is a Ukrainian state higher educational institution in the city of Uzhhorod ...

. He was Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Slovak Institute for International Studies (2000–2003), Editor in Chief for the ''MFA International Issues Journal'' (1998–1999) and is on the editorial board of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association. He is author or co-author of several articles such a
"Development Assistance and Cooperation"

References

External links

Energy Charter Secretariat Profile

CV

GreenOrbis Interview

Geo-Political Forum Profile

Interview with Urban Rusnák about the ECT

EurActiv

Slovak News Report on the Successful Election of Urban Rusnak as the General Secretary of the ECS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rusnak, Urban

1967 births Living people People from Košice