Dr. Ján Figeľ

Former Commissioner of the European Union

Ján Figeľ is a Slovak politician with a distinguished career in both national and European governance. In 1998, as State Secretary at Slovakia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Figeľ played an key role as Chief Negotiator in the country’s accession to the European Union. He served as European Commissioner from 2004 to 2009 and later as Slovakia’s Minister of Transport, Construction, and Regional Development from 2010 to 2012. From 2012 to 2016, he was Deputy Speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, and from 2009 to 2016, he led the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) as its chairman. From 2016 to 2019, he was the European Commission’s special envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion outside the EU.