Responding to yesterday's report that Slovenia's Ivan Bizjak will have to retire early from the post of director general for justice and home affairs of the EU Council, Zbogar pointed out that Bizjak was Slovenia's only director general in the EU institutions.
The foreign minister also said that he had not been acquainted with the decision made by Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union Pierre de Boissieu just before he left the post on 26 June.
Slovenia is poorly represented in the EU institutions, especially in the EU's foreign service, which is why the loss of the position of director general is that much more of a reason for a serious talk on the representation of Slovenian officials in the EU institutions, Zbogar stressed.
The STA reported yesterday, quoting diplomatic sources in Brussels, that a decision has been made on early retirement of Bizjak from the post to which he was appointed by Javier Solana in 2004.
Bizjak, a former Slovenian interior minister (1993-1994), human rights ombudsman (1994-1999) and justice minister (2000-2004), is Slovenia's highest ranking official in the EU administration after European Commissioner Janez Potocnik.
SOURCE: The Slovenia Times
