Eduard Kukan

Infobox Minister
name = Eduard Kukan


imagesize = 150px
order =Member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic
term_start =July 4 2006
term_end =
deputy =
predecessor =
successor =
term_start2 =December 13 1994
term_end2 =October 30 1998
deputy2 =
predecessor2 =
successor2 =
office3 =7^th Foreign Minister of Slovakia
term_start3 =October 30 1998
term_end3 = July 4 2006
predecessor3 =Zdenka Kramplová
successor3 =Ján Kubiš
office4 =3^rd Foreign Minister of Slovakia
term_start4 =March 16 1994
term_end4 = December 13 1994
predecessor4 =Jozef Moravčík
successor4 =Juraj Schenk
office5 =Slovak ammbassador
to United Nations
term_start5 =January 1 1993
term_end5 = ??? 1993
predecessor5 =
successor5 =
office6 =Czechoslovak ammbassador
to United Nations
term_start6 =??? 1990
term_end6 =December 31 1992
predecessor6 =
successor6 =
birth_date =Birth date and age|1939|12|26
birth_place =Trnovec nad Váhom, First Slovak Republic
death_date =
death_place =
spouse = Zdenka Kukanová
constituency =
party = SDKÚ-DS

Eduard Kukan (born December 26, 1939) served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia from 1998 to 2006. He was a candidate in the presidential election held on April 3, 2004, and although pre-election polls had suggested he would come in first, he actually came in third behind former prime minister Vladimír Mečiar and Ivan Gašparovič, thus preventing him from contesting the run-off.

Mr. Kukan graduated from The Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1964, where he has also gained an excellent command of the Swahili language. After graduation he received a Doctorate in Law from the Faculty of Law of the Charles University in Prague.

Since then his employments have included:

*Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia in Prague (began on August 1, 1964)
**Headquarters in the Department of Sub-Saharan Africa (1964-1968)
**Secretariat of the Minister (1973-1977)
**Director of the Department of Sub-Saharan Africa (1981-1985)
**Director of the Department of Latin America (1988-1990)

*Czechoslovak Embassy in Lusaka (1968-1973)
*Czechoslovak Embassy in Washington from as Minister-Counsellor and Deputy Ambassador (1977-1981)
*Czechoslovak Embassy in Addis Ababa from as Ambassador (1985-1988)
*Permanent Representative of Czechoslovakia to the United Nations in New York (1991)
*Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the UN (1993)
**UN Chairman of the Committee for Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Affairs
**Special Envoy for the Balkans (1991-2001)
*Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia (March 1994-December 1994)
*Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia (October 1998-2006)
*Special Envoy for the Balkans (1991-2001)

Eduard Kukan is married and has two adult children. In addition to his native tongue and Swahili, he speaks English, Russian, and Spanish. In 1993, he was awarded an honorary law degree by the Upsala College in New Jersey, U.S..

Kukan is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Global Panel Foundation.

External links

* [http://www.government.gov.sk/english/minister_mzv.html Official site]
* [http://www.mgimo.ru Moscow State Institute of International Relations]