Dr Janez Drnovšek

Dr Janez Drnovšek was born on 17 May 1950 in Celje. After completing his studies at the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Economics he went on to take a doctorate in economic science at the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Maribor. In 1994 he was also awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Boston.

After his studies he took a position with a construction company in Zagorje, before becoming manager of the Ljubljanska Banka branch in Trbovlje. He also served for one year as an economic advisor to the Yugoslav embassy in Cairo. In 1986 he was elected to the Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, and appointed a delegate to the Chamber of the Republics and Provinces within the federal Yugoslav assembly.

At the first free election for Slovenia's representative on the collective federal presidency in the former Yugoslavia held on 2 April 1989, Dr Drnovšek stood as an independent candidate, winning against the candidate of the then ruling party elite. From May 1989 to May 1990 he was president of Yugoslavia, and in this position chaired the summit of the non-aligned movement held in Belgrade.

Dr Drnovšek was the chief negotiator during the ten-day armed conflict between Slovenia's Territorial Defence forces and the Yugoslav army, and in this role made a vital contribution to the adoption of the Brioni Declaration, which ended hostilities in Slovenia. In addition in July 1991 he succeeded in negotiating with the Yugoslav presidency the complete withdrawal of federal forces from Slovenia.

In April 1992 Dr Drnovšek accepted nomination as a candidate for the post of prime minister of Slovenia, to which he was elected by National Assembly deputies in the same month. In December 1992 he received a further mandate for continuing his policy for the economic and political transformation of Slovenia. As leader of the victorious Liberal Democrats he was re-elected prime minister in January 1993.

During this period Slovenia became a full member of the UN, the IMF, the World Bank, the EBRD, the Council of Europe and GATT, and subsequently became a founder member of the WTO.

On 10 June 1997 Dr Drnovšek signed Slovenia's association agreement with the EU, and formally submitted a request for full membership of the organisation. At the same time Slovenia was actively working to be included in the first round of Nato expansion.

He has successfully led the Slovenian government since 1992, having been elected to the post a third time on 9 January 1997.

Dr Drnovšek has written numerous articles on loans and monetary policy and international financial relations in which he focused on the world debt crisis. On 14 October 1995 he was awarded the Prix de la Méditerranée by the Mediterranean Crans Montana Forum in recognition for his outstanding achievements in the field of politics and economics.

Dr Janez Drnovšek is fluent in English, French and Spanish, and also speaks German, Italian and Croatian.