Miro Kovač (born 20 September 1968) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n historian, diplomat and politician who served as the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in the

Cabinet of Tihomir Orešković The Thirteenth Government of the Republic of Croatia () was the Croatian Government cabinet led by Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković. It was the government cabinet of Croatia between 22 January until 19 October 2016. It was formed following the ...

from 22 January 2016 until 19 October 2016. He is member of the conservative

Croatian Democratic Union The Croatian Democratic Union (, , HDZ) is a major conservative, centre-right political party in Croatia. Since 2016, it has been the ruling political party in Croatia under the incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. It is one of the ...

(HDZ) party.

Early life and education

Miro Kovač was born on 20 September 1968 in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

as the oldest of four children. He began his tertiary education at the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

and completed it at the

University of Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3 The Sorbonne Nouvelle University (, also known as Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, Paris 3, Sorbonne Nouvelle and the Sorbonne) is a public liberal arts and humanities university in Paris, France. It is one of the inheritors of the hi ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he earned his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

with a

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

on the national and European policies of the

member states A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign states ...

of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, as well as a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

on the history of international relations with a thesis on the role of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the creation of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

Career

In 1995, Kovač began working in the Office of the

President of Croatia The president of Croatia, officially the president of the Republic of Croatia (), is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the military and chief representative of the Republic of Croatia both within the country and abroad. The president ...

, in the Department of Information where he worked until 1999 when he assumed the position of assistant adviser for Euro-Atlantic integration. He began his diplomatic career in 2001 as a counsellor at the Croatian Embassy in

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 ...

. In 2003, Kovač became a minister counsellor at the Croatian Embassy in

. When the

(HDZ) came into power, after the 2003 elections, Kovač assumed the position of Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in 2005 the Head of Diplomatic Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2006, Kovač was appointed to the position of ambassador. From 2008 until 2013 he served as the Croatian Ambassador to Germany. Kovač was appointed to the position of international Secretary of HDZ by its then-president

Tomislav Karamarko Tomislav Karamarko (; born 25 May 1959) is a Croatian politician who served as First Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia from January to June 2016. He served in the Cabinet of Jadranka Kosor as Minister of the Interior from 2008 to 2011. Early li ...

in 2014. After his mandate in Germany expired, state officials had intended to appoint him the new Croatian Ambassador to Poland, but he refused and returned to Croatia in order to help HDZ in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. During the 2014–15 presidential elections he was the campaign manager for President

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (; born 29 April 1968) is a Croatian politician and diplomat who served as the president of Croatia from 2015 to 2020. She was the first woman to be elected to the office since the first multi-party elections in 1990 ...

. His successor is Davor Ivo Stier, a former diplomat, MEP and international secretary of the HDZ.

Personal life

Kovač is married with three children. He speaks Croatian, English, German, and French fluently and has a basic understanding of Italian and Dutch.

Publications

* "La France, La création du royaume »Yougoslave« et la question Croate, 1914-1929", Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt a. M., New York, Oxford, Vienna: Peter Lang, 2001., p. 398. * "Raspadanje Austro-Ugarske i rađanje Kraljevine SHS u svjetlu francuske politike (od listopada do prosinca 1918.)" ''(Break up of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

and birth of the

in the light of French politics (from October to December 1918))'', Časopis za suvremenu povijest, no. 1, 2003., p. 141-172. * "Francuska i hrvatsko pitanje, 1914.-1929." ''(France and Croatian question, 1914-1929)'', Zagreb: Dom i svijet, 2005., p. 363 * "La Croatie et l'Union Européenne, 1990-2004", in: Lukić, Renéo, La politique étrangère de la Croatie de son indépendance à nos jours, 1991–2006, Laval: Presses universitaires de l'Université de Laval, 2006, p. 316

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovac, Miro 1968 births Croatian Democratic Union politicians Diplomats from Split, Croatia Foreign ministers of Croatia Living people Politicians from Split, Croatia Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament Sorbonne Nouvelle University Paris 3 alumni University of Zagreb alumni