Minister of Foreign Affairs

Karl Viktor Erjavec graduated from the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana in 1985. He was employed in the private sector until 1990, when he became a member of the Executive Committee of the Assembly of Kranj Municipality, and was appointed secretary for public administration and other legal affairs. Between 1995 and 2000, he worked at the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia, dealing with matters relating to the protection of basic human rights. He was head of the Ombudsman’s office and director of expert services. From 2001 to 2004, he was State Secretary responsible for justice administration at the Ministry of Justice.

From 2004 to 2008, he served as Minister of Defence. In 2006, he successfully led the meeting of NATO ministers at Portorož, and in the second half of 2008, when Slovenia presided over the Council of the European Union, he was responsible for managing European defence policy, along with the European Commission. He has participated in numerous ministerial conferences around the world, forming constructive cooperation with many heads of state and prime ministers, ministers of foreign affairs and ministers of defence.

In 2008, he was appointed Minister of the Environment. He attended many ministerial meetings, and acted as a negotiator at the world climate conference in 2009 in Denmark. Mr Erjavec is the author of many articles on the protection of basic human rights, on the justice administration system, and security issues. He has given numerous lectures at various expert seminars and conferences at home and abroad.