Miroslav Lajcak

MR. MIROSLAV LAJČÁK, PRESIDENT OF THE 72^ND SESSION OF THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY, AT COMMEMORATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF VESAK. Ngài Miroslav Lajcak, Chủ Tịch Liên Hiệp Quốc trong kỳ Tổng Nghị Hội lần thứ 72. Lễ Hội Quốc Tế Vesak. 

Miroslav Lajčák (born 20 March 1963 in Poprad) is a Slovak politician and diplomat, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic.^[1] In addition, Lajčak also served as President of the United Nations General Assembly for the 72nd sessionfrom 2017 until 2018.^[2]

EEAS Managing Director for Russia, Eastern Neighbourhood and the Western Balkans (2010-2012)

From 2010 to 2012, Lajčák helped shape the newly formed diplomatic service of the European Union, the European External Action Service, as its Managing Director for Europe and Central Asia. In addition, he also served as the EU ́s Chief Negotiator for the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement and Moldova–European Union Association Agreement, as well as the EU Representative for the “5+2 Talks” on the Transnistrian Settlement Process.^[39]

Slovak Republic Presidency of the Council of the EU (2016)
In June 2016, Slovakia took over the Presidency of the EU Council.^[40] In his speech presenting the priorities for the Slovak Presidency Lajčák said "Today, we call the EU our home, the euro our currency and Schengen our area. The Presidency is the culmination of our integration journey. We are at the core of Europe. And we are grateful for that because we were given a lot. It´s time to give back."^[41]

In November 2016, following revelations by a whistleblower, Transparency International Slovakia accused Lajčák of dubious procurement contracts during the Slovak EU Council Presidency.^[42][43]

During the 2016 Slovak Presidency, the Council of the European Union did not agree on conclusions on EU enlargement; the "conclusions of the Presidency"^[44] which were issued instead of the usual Council conclusions were criticized for their wording and lack of legal value.^[45]

Candidacy for United Nations Secretary-General
From May 2016, Lajčák was one official candidate for the Eastern European Group to succeed to Ban Ki-moon during the 2016 United Nations Secretary-General selection;^[46] he received two "discourage" votes from the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council and was not elected.

Among other issues, Lajčák, in his candidacy for UN Secretary-General, addressed the issue of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers,^[47][48][49]

President of the United Nations General Assembly (2017-2018)

Lajčák also served as President of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly from 2017 to 2018 where he advocated for dialogue, strengthening multilateralism and the need to serve all people. He was the first president to publish his financial disclosure summary.^[50]

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (2019)

In 2019, Lajčák was particularly active in East and South-East Europe as Chairperson-in-office of the OSCE. Slovakia's OSCE Chairmanship focused on people, dialogue and stability.^[51] During his tenure, Lajčák visited 15 OSCE field presences^[52] to highlight the OSCE's important work on the ground, and held high-level talks with interlocutors in the OSCE region, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in February,^[53] June,^[54] and September 2019^[55], as well as US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo in April 2019.^[56] Ahead of the 26th OSCE Ministerial Council, Lajčák shared his Bratislava Appeal, an informal initiative addressed to foreign ministers from across the OSCE area arguing for more support to the OSCE and multilateralism.^[57]

EU Special Representative for the Serbia-Kosovo Dialogue (2020)
On 3 April 2020, Lajčák was appointed by the EU Council as EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues. His 12-months mandate includes the tasks to achieve comprehensive normalization of the relations between Serbia and Kosovo, improve good neighborly relations and reconciliation between partners in the Western Balkans, helping them overcome the legacy of the past, and contribute to the consistency and effectiveness of EU action in the Western Balkans.^[58]