Janez Lenarčič (born 6 November 1967) is a

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

who has been serving as

European Commissioner for Crisis Management European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other We ...

in the First von der Leyen Commission 2019–2024. 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 "three generations of human rights, human dimension" of security. The O ...

within the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...

Early life and education

Lenarčič holds a degree in international law from the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...

, 1992.European Commission, CV
/ref>OSCE, CV
/ref>

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 the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

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 (20 ...

. 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 Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

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 a European agreement that amends the two Treaty, treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by all Member stat ...

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

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

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. In 2016 he moved to

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

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 also served as the Minister of Defence in the government of Prime Minister Robert Golob from June 202 ...

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

Commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

led by

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

. 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

.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 American news organization '' Politico'' reporting on political affairs of the European Union. Its headquarters are located in Brussels with additional offices in ...

''. Lenarčič term ended 30 November 2024, as von der Leyen's second Commission acceded.

Awards

Lenarčič received France's highest award, the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

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 Permanent representatives of Slovenia to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Slovenian European commissioners University of Ljubljana alumni European commissioners (2019–2024)