Milan Pogačnik (born 30 August 1946) 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 ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. Between November 2008 and March 2010, he served as the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Nutrition of Slovenia.

Biography

Pogačnik was born in

Celje Celje (, , ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, third-largest city in Slovenia. It is a regional center of the traditional Slovenian region of Styria (Slovenia), Styria and the administrative seat of the City Municipality of Celje. Th ...

, then part of the

People's Republic of Slovenia The Socialist Republic of Slovenia (, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Slovenija, Социјалистичка Република Словенија), commonly referred to as Socialist Slovenia or simply Slovenia, was one ...

in the

Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. He studied

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, medical diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all a ...

at 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 ...

, graduating in 1971. He obtained his PhD in 1984. Between 1990 and 2008, he served as dean of the Veterinary Faculty at the University of Ljubljana.

Career

Between 1994 and 1998, he served as member of the Council for Higher Education of the Republic of Slovenia, and between 1999 and 2002 as member of the Slovenian Council for Science and Technology; both are advisory organs to the

Government of Slovenia The Government of the Republic of Slovenia () exercises executive (government), executive authority in Slovenia pursuant to the Constitution of Slovenia, Constitution and the laws of Slovenia. It is also the highest administrative authority in Slo ...

. Between 2000 and 2003 he served as head of the National Veterinary Institute, and between 2002 and 2004, he chaired the Council for Veterinary Policies within the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Nutrition. Between 2003 and 2008, he was member of the Scientific and Advisory Board of Joint Research Centre of the European Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods within the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

. Between 2007 and 2008, he served in the Management Board of the

European Food Safety Authority The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is the agency of the European Union (EU) that provides independent scientific advice and communicates on existing and emerging risks associated with the food chain. EFSA was established in February 2002 ...

. Pogačnik first entered the Slovenian political scene in 2000, when the Prime Minister

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 ...

proposed him as the candidate for Minister of Agriculture after the

Slovenian People's Party The Slovenian People's Party (, , Slovene abbreviation SLS ) is a conservative, agrarian, Christian democratic political party in Slovenia. Formed in 1988 under the name of Slovenian Peasant Union as the first democratic political organization i ...

left the governing coalition. However, Drnovšek's government fell before Pogačnik could be confirmed in the Parliament. In April 2004, after the Slovenian People's Party again left the government, the Prime Minister

Anton Rop Anton Rop (born 27 December 1960) is a Slovenian politician. He was Prime Minister of Slovenia, from 2002 to 2004. Until 2005 he was also the president of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberalna Demokracija Slovenije – LDS), the legal successo ...

appointed him as Minister of Agriculture. In the

2004 Slovenian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Slovenia on Sunday, 3 October 2004 to elect the 90 deputies of the National Assembly. A total of 1,390 male and female candidates ran in the election, organized into 155 lists. The lists were compiled both by ...

, Pogačnik ran unsuccessfully for Parliament on the list of the

Liberal Democracy of Slovenia Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (, LDS) is a social-liberal political party in Slovenia. Between 1992 and 2004, it (and its main predecessor, the Liberal Democratic Party) was the largest (and ruling) party in the country. In the 2011 Slovenian pa ...

. The elections was won by the conservative opposition, and Pogačnik was replaced by the Democratic politician

Marija Lukačič Marija is a feminine given name, a variation of the name Maria, which was in turn a Latin form of the Greek names Μαριαμ, or Mariam, and Μαρια, or Maria, found in the New Testament. Depending on phonological rules concerning consecut ...

. In the parliamentary election of 2008, Pogačnik ran as a candidate of the opposition

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

. After the election, he was appointed as Minister of Agriculture in the government of

Borut Pahor Borut Pahor (; born 2 November 1963) is a Slovenian politician who served as President of Slovenia from 2012 to 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Slovenia from 2008 to 2012. A longtime member and former president of the Social D ...

. In early 2010, Pozareport.si, and then other media, revealed a series of irregularities regarding the Ministry of Agriculture's handling of the cases of removal and returning of dogs, which upon return killed their owner. Articles revealed close ties between the ministry officials and the dog owner. Among other information, media published photos from the crime scene of the morning after the dog owner's death, showing Ministry of Agriculture State Secretary Sonja Bukovec crying and hugging sister of the dogs owner. In the

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

(called interpellation in Slovenia) was initiated against Pogačnik for numerous irregularities in the events related to these dogs and he resigned.

Charges of corruption

In February and March 2010, Pogačnik was reported by the media to be involved in different corruption scandals. The opposition parties started an interpellation

motion In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an o ...

against him regarding the return of two dogs to the physician Saša Baričevič. However, on 9 March 2010, before the charges against him were discussed in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, he was arrested by the

Slovenian Police The Slovenian National Police Force is the national government agency that handles the responsibility of law enforcement of the Republic of Slovenia. It is composed of the eight police directorates in Celje, Koper, Kranj, Ljubljana, Maribor, Mur ...

for questioning regarding dodgy land deals and trading of favours with the

Slovenian National Party The Slovenian National Party (, SNS) is a nationalist political party in Slovenia led by Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti. The party is known for its Euroscepticism and opposes Slovenia's membership in NATO.Krupnick, Charles (2003)''Almost NATO: Par ...

(SNS) leader Zmago Jelinčič. It was reported that Pogačnik was trying to secure the support of Jelinčič's party for a key farmland law and in the no-confidence vote against him in return for securing land for a national aviation museum near

Murska Sobota Murska Sobota (, Slovenian abbreviation: ''MS'' ; ;''Radkersburg und Luttenberg'' (map, 1:75,000). 1894. Vienna: K.u.k. Militärgeographisches Institut. ) is a town in northeastern Slovenia. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Murska Sob ...

(northeastern Slovenia) that Jelinčič was lobbying for. The following day, 10 March 2010, he stepped down as the Minister of Agriculture. On 29 March 2010, he was temporarily replaced by Henrik Gjerkeš, who was also the Minister of Local Self-Government and Regional Development at the time. In May 2010,

Dejan Židan Dejan Židan () (born 16 October 1967) is a Slovenian politician, former leader of the Social Democrats (Slovenia), Social Democrats, and the former speaker of the National Assembly of Slovenia. A veterinarian by education, Židan served as minis ...

was named the new Minister of Agriculture. In October 2010, a

complaint In legal terminology, a complaint is any formal legal document that sets out the facts and legal reasons (see: cause of action) that the filing party or parties (the plaintiff(s)) believes are sufficient to support a claim against the party ...

was filed against Pogačnik by the

Koper Koper (; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fifth-largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Slovenian Istria, Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, Koper is the main urban center of the Slovene coast. Port of Koper i ...

criminal police.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pogacnik, Milan Politicians from Celje University of Ljubljana alumni Academic staff of the University of Ljubljana 1946 births Living people Agriculture ministers of Slovenia Food ministers of Slovenia Forestry ministers of Slovenia Liberal Democracy of Slovenia politicians Social Democrats (Slovenia) politicians Slovenian veterinarians