Alojz "Lojze" Peterle (born 5 July 1948) is a
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
n
politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
. He is a member of
New Slovenia, part of the
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...
. He served as
Prime Minister of Slovenia
The prime minister of Slovenia, officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia (), is the Head of government, head of the Government of Slovenia, Government of the Slovenia, Republic of Slovenia. There have been nine offi ...
from 1990 to 1992,
Leader of the Christian Democrats from the founding of the party in 1990 until it merged with the
Slovenian People's Party in 2000, and was
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
from 1993 to 1994 and again in 2000. He was a
Member of the National Assembly from 1996 to 2004, and a
Member of the European Parliament
A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...
from 2004 to 2019.
Early life and career
Lojze Peterle was born to a peasant family in the
Lower Carniola
Lower Carniola ( ; ) is a traditional region in Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south an ...
n village of
Čužnja Vas near
Trebnje. He attended the
Novo Mesto Grammar School. In 1967, he enrolled in the
University of Ljubljana
The University of Ljubljana (, , ), abbreviated UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 38,000 enrolled students. The university has 23 faculties and three art academies with approximately 4,000 teaching and re ...
, where he studied history and geography, and later also economy. During his student years, he started collaborating with the
Christian left intellectual circle around the journal ''
Revija 2000''.
In the 1980s, Peterle started working at the Institute for Urban Planning of the
Socialist Republic of Slovenia. In the mid-1980s, he was involved in several projects of trans-regional cooperation within the
Alpe-Adria regional cooperation network.
Political career
Leader of the Christian Democrats, 1990–2000
In 1990, he was elected president of the newly founded
Slovene Christian Democrats.
Peterle became
prime minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
of Slovenia in May 1990 after parliamentary elections of April 1990 won by the
DEMOS coalition (which included Christian Democrats and was created in the opposition to the
Communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
rule). In 1991, the DEMOS-led Slovene Parliament declared the country's independence from Yugoslavia, in compliance with the result of a
referendum
A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
held in December the previous year. He served as prime minister until May 1992, when due to an internal crisis in the
DEMOS coalition, a new coalition government under
Janez Drnovšek was established by a
constructive vote of no confidence. In the elections of 1992, the Christian Democrats gained some support and became the second largest party in a highly fragmented
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
, after the
Liberal Democratic Party. The Christian Democrats entered a cross-party coalition with the Liberal Democrats and the
United List of Social Democrats (former
Communist Party of Slovenia) under the leadership of
Janez Drnovšek.
Peterle served as deputy prime minister and
foreign minister
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
from January 1993 until October 1994. Tensions were deep in the coalition, however, and Peterle resigned from his posts in 1994 when Drnovšek nominated
Jožef Å kolÄ, a member of his own
Liberal Democratic Party, to be speaker of Parliament, against the wishes of Peterle who believed that a Christian Democrat should be the speaker. The Christian Democrats did remain in the coalition, which was often divided over specific policy issues. In 1996, Peterle called for the dismissal of foreign minister
Zoran Thaler because of his belief that Thaler did not do enough to help Slovenia's relations with
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
.
In the
1996 elections, Peterle's party suffered a decisive defeat, losing popular support to the other two centre-right parties, the
Social Democratic Party of Slovenia and the
Slovene People's Party, that had remained in the opposition and had criticised what they called a "unprincipled coalition between Christian Democracy and former Communists".
Between 1996 and 2000, the Christian Democrats remained in opposition, and Peterle's leadership was frequently challenged by different fractions within the party. He nevertheless managed to remain the chairman of the Party until 2000, when the Christian Democrats merged with the
Slovenian People's Party, which had until then supported
Janez Drnovšek's third term as prime minister. As a consequence, Drnovšek's government fell in 2000, and Peterle became foreign minister again in the short-lived centre-right government of
Andrej Bajuk from June 2000 to November 2000.
After the 2000 election
Due to a disagreement over the election legislation, Peterle left the
Slovene People's Party shortly after its unification with the Christian Democrats and joined the newly founded
New Slovenia – Christian People's Party. In the 2000 election, both of Slovenia's conservative and
christian democratic
Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics.
Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...
parties suffered a defeat against Drnovšek's
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia, while the
Slovenian Social Democratic Party assumed the undisputed leadership of the centre-right opposition.
Member of the European Parliament, 2004–2019
In 2002, Peterle became the 13th member of the steering committee of the
Convention on the Future of Europe, which drafted the ''
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an Ratification, unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for ...
''.
In the
2004 elections to the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
, Peterle was elected for
New Slovenia, as a member of the
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...
(EPP). In March 2006, he was elected as Vice President of the
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...
for a three-year term after recovering from cancer in April 2003.
Peterle served on the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament. He was also a member of the
Subcommittee on Human Rights from 2004 until 2009.
In addition to his committee assignments, Peterle chaired the parliament's delegation to the EU-former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee since 2014. He previously served on the delegations for relations with the countries of
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations,
commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 Sovereign state, states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its ...
(2004–2009), to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee (2009–2014), to the EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee (2009–2013) and for relations with
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
(2013–2014). He was also a supporter of the MEP Heart Group, a group of parliamentarians who have an interest in promoting measures that will help reduce the burden of
cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...
s (CVD).
In November 2006, Peterle announced that he would be running for
President of Slovenia in the
2007 presidential election. Backed by most of the centre-right government, he was considered the front-runner before the first round of the election, but ultimately lost in a landslide to
Danilo Türk in the second round.
He is a founder and current President of the grou
MEPs Against Cancer (MAC)
In September 2016, Peterle joined more than 50 MEPs from six different political groups – including
Christofer Fjellner,
Ashley Fox,
Vicky Ford and
Beatrix von Storch – in signing a proposal for a two-term limit of the
President of the European Parliament
The president of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. They also represent the Parliament within the European Union (EU) and internationally. The president's signature is required for Euro ...
. This move was widely seen as an effort to prevent incumbent
Martin Schulz from holding onto the presidency for a third consecutive term.
Peterle was not re-elected to the European Parliament at the
2019 European Parliament election in Slovenia.
Other activities
Peterle is president of the Slovenian beekeepers association and hosted the 2003
Apimondia beekeepers congress in
Ljubljana
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, name = Ljubljana
, official_name =
, settlement_type = Capital city
, image_skyline = {{multiple image
, border = infobox
, perrow = 1/2/2/1
, total_widt ...
.
Praesidium oozing honey as Peterle shows he's the bee's knees
'' European Voice'', July 9, 2003.
Honours
* Order of Freedom of the Republic of Slovenia
*Alois Mock Europa Ring
*Josef Krainer Prize
* European of the Year 2003 (European Voice)
*Meritee Europeen In Gold 2004
References
External links
Official Website
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Peterle, Lojze
1948 births
Ministers of foreign affairs of Slovenia
Living people
MEPs for Slovenia 2004–2009
MEPs for Slovenia 2009–2014
MEPs for Slovenia 2014–2019
New Slovenia MEPs
People from the Municipality of Mokronog-Trebelno
Prime ministers of Slovenia
Slovene Christian Democrats politicians
Slovenian Spring
University of Ljubljana alumni
Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun