Ján Kubiš


Ján Kubiš is a Slovak diplomat and former Minister of Foreign Affairs who has been serving as United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon since 2019. He was appointed to this position by the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

Career

Career with the United Nations

From 2015 until 2018, Kubiš served as the Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq ; he was appointed to this position by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 5 February 2015. Also, he was the Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Previously, he served as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, and was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia from July 2006 until January 2009.

Career with the OSCE

Kubiš was formerly Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Secretary General. In July 2005, the European Union appointed Kubiš to be the EU's special envoy to Central Asia. Kubiš had previously served as the United Nations special envoy to Tajikistan during the transitional period following the civil war until the country held its first postwar elections.
Prior to taking on the post as OSCE Secretary General, Kubiš was Director of the Conflict Prevention Centre in the secretariat of the OSCE, a position he held from 1994.

Career in the Slovak diplomatic service

From 1993 to 1994, Kubiš was Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to the UN Office in Geneva, as well as to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and other international organizations. In 1994, Kubiš was Special Ministerial Envoy and Slovak Chief Negotiator on the Pact for Stability in Europe. In 1992, he served as Chairman-in-Office of the Committee of Senior Officials of the Committee on Security and Cooperation in Europe under the Czechoslovak CSCE chairmanship.
From 1991 to 1992, Kubiš was Director-General of the Euro-Atlantic Section in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague. From 1989, he served in the Czechoslovak Embassy in Moscow, and as Deputy Head of the Embassy from 1990 until his departure in 1991. Between 1985 and 1988, he headed the section dealing with security and arms control in the Czechoslovak Foreign Ministry. From 1980 to 1985, he served in the Czechoslovak Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Personal life

Born in 1952, Kubiš is married and has one daughter.