Matjaž Šinkovec
Encyclopedia
Matjaž Šinkovec is a Slovenia
n diplomat
, politician
, translator, journalist
and science fiction writer. He was one of the co-founders of the Slovenian Democratic Party
.
family in Ljubljana
, then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
.
He attended the prestigious Poljane Grammar School in Ljubljana, where he was also classmate of the later historian and politician Vasko Simoniti
. He enrolled at the University of Ljubljana
, where he graduated from comparative linguistics
. In 1976 he obtained his MA
in English language
and literature
.
In 1974, he got employed as journalist in the daily newspaper Delo
, but soon quit in disaccordance of its editorial policy. For the following years, he could not get a regular job due to his openly critical stance towards the Titoist regime. He earned his living as a freelance translator and author of science fiction
short stories. Among others, he translated novels by Agatha Christie
and Kurt Vonnegut
into Slovene language. In 1978, he was employed as an official translator in the Secretary for Foreign Cooperation of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia
. In 1984, he started working at the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Slovenia, becoming one of the closest collaborators of its chairman France Tomšič who aimed at transforming the Confederation into a politically independent trade union, akin to the Polish
Solidarity.
. A strong supporter of the unification of all democratic political forces in Slovenia against in opposition to the ruling Communist Party, he is considered to be the author of the name of the DEMOS coalition, founded in December 1989 as a common electoral platform of five largest Slovenian opposition parties. In the first democratic elections in 1990, Šinkovec was elected as an MP on the list of his Social Democratic Party.
Between 1990 and 1992, he served as the leader of the parliamentary group of the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia and as president of the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs. Between 1991 and 1992, he was the chief negotiator for independent Slovenia on the International Conference on former Yugoslavia led by lord Carrington
. In the same period, he also served as head of the first Slovenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
.
. Between 1992 and 1997, he served as the first Slovenian ambassador to the United Kingdom
. In 1997 he took over the sector of security policy
in the Slovenian Foreign Ministry. In 1999 he became the permanent representative of Slovenia to NATO and in 2004.
In April 2006, he was appointed as the head of the Slovenian Intelligence Service
. As chairman of the Agency, Šinkovec carried out several investigation on the activities of the Secret Service during the decade of centre-left
governments, with an emphasis on the abuses of the Secret Service for political purposes. In 2007, he was relieved from office and appointed as a personal advisor of prime minister
Janez Janša
.
, Serbo-Croatian
, Spanish
and Portuguese
.
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, translator, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and science fiction writer. He was one of the co-founders of the Slovenian Democratic Party
Slovenian Democratic Party
The Slovenian Democratic Party , known until 2003 as the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia is a Slovenian centre-right liberal conservative and Christian democratic party...
.
Early life and career
Šinkovec was born in a middle classMiddle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
family in Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
, then part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
.
He attended the prestigious Poljane Grammar School in Ljubljana, where he was also classmate of the later historian and politician Vasko Simoniti
Vasko Simoniti
Vasko Simoniti is a Slovenian historian and politician. Between 2004 and 2008, he served as the Minister of Culture of Slovenia...
. He enrolled at the University of Ljubljana
University of Ljubljana
The University of Ljubljana is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. With 64,000 enrolled graduate and postgraduate students, it is among the largest universities in Europe.-Beginnings:...
, where he graduated from comparative linguistics
Comparative linguistics
Comparative linguistics is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical relatedness....
. In 1976 he obtained his MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
.
In 1974, he got employed as journalist in the daily newspaper Delo
Delo
Delo is the largest national daily newspaper in Slovenia. It was established on May 1st, 1959, when two newspapers Ljudska pravica and Slovenski poročevalec merged. Nowadays, it is the most influential and credible daily newspaper in Slovenia...
, but soon quit in disaccordance of its editorial policy. For the following years, he could not get a regular job due to his openly critical stance towards the Titoist regime. He earned his living as a freelance translator and author of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
short stories. Among others, he translated novels by Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
and Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle , Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions blend satire, gallows humor and science fiction. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.-Early...
into Slovene language. In 1978, he was employed as an official translator in the Secretary for Foreign Cooperation of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia
Socialist Republic of Slovenia
The Socialist Republic of Slovenia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1943 until 1990...
. In 1984, he started working at the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Slovenia, becoming one of the closest collaborators of its chairman France Tomšič who aimed at transforming the Confederation into a politically independent trade union, akin to the Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Solidarity.
Early political activity
In 1989, he was one of the co-founders of the Slovenian Social Democratic Party, together with France Tomšič and Jože PučnikJože Pucnik
Jože Pučnik was a Slovenian public intellectual, sociologist and politician. During the Communist regime of Josip Broz Tito, Pučnik was one of the most outspoken Slovenian critics of dictatorship and lack of civil liberties in former Yugoslavia. He was imprisoned for a total of 7 years, and later...
. A strong supporter of the unification of all democratic political forces in Slovenia against in opposition to the ruling Communist Party, he is considered to be the author of the name of the DEMOS coalition, founded in December 1989 as a common electoral platform of five largest Slovenian opposition parties. In the first democratic elections in 1990, Šinkovec was elected as an MP on the list of his Social Democratic Party.
Between 1990 and 1992, he served as the leader of the parliamentary group of the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia and as president of the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs. Between 1991 and 1992, he was the chief negotiator for independent Slovenia on the International Conference on former Yugoslavia led by lord Carrington
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982 and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir...
. In the same period, he also served as head of the first Slovenian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...
.
Diplomatic career and return to politics
After 1992, Šinkovec entered the diplomatic serviceDiplomatic service
Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel enjoy diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to other countries...
. Between 1992 and 1997, he served as the first Slovenian ambassador to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. In 1997 he took over the sector of security policy
Security policy
Security policy is a definition of what it means to be secure for a system, organization or other entity. For an organization, it addresses the constraints on behavior of its members as well as constraints imposed on adversaries by mechanisms such as doors, locks, keys and walls...
in the Slovenian Foreign Ministry. In 1999 he became the permanent representative of Slovenia to NATO and in 2004.
In April 2006, he was appointed as the head of the Slovenian Intelligence Service
Slovenska Obvešcevalno-Varnostna Agencija
The Slovenian Intelligence and Security Agency is the main intelligence force in the Republic of Slovenia. The mission of SOVA as the central intelligence and security service in the Republic of Slovenia is to provide for national security....
. As chairman of the Agency, Šinkovec carried out several investigation on the activities of the Secret Service during the decade of centre-left
Centre-left
Centre-left is a political term that describes individuals, political parties or organisations such as think tanks whose ideology lies between the centre and the left on the left-right spectrum...
governments, with an emphasis on the abuses of the Secret Service for political purposes. In 2007, he was relieved from office and appointed as a personal advisor of prime minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Janez Janša
Janez Janša
Janez Janša is a Slovenian politician who was Prime Minister of Slovenia from November 2004 to November 2008. He has also been President of the Slovenian Democratic Party since 1993...
.
Personal life
Šinkovec is married and has two sons. Besides Slovene, he is fluent in English, GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
.