Matej Tonin (born 30 July 1983) is a Slovenian politician. Tonin graduated from political sciences at 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 ...

in 2007. A member of the New Slovenia (NSi) party, he was seen as one of the key people that helped the party win seats in the 2011 parliamentary election, having been absent in the 2008–2011 assembly. Tonin was also elected an MP in the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and 2018 election. In January 2018, Ljudmila Novak announced her resignation as the president of NSi and Tonin took over the party. On 22 June 2018 Tonin was elected 13th Speaker of the

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 ...

. Following the formation of the coalition around

Marjan Šarec Marjan Šarec (born 2 December 1977) is a Slovenian politician, actor and comedian who served as Prime Minister of Slovenia from 2018 to 2020. He also served as the Minister of Defence in the government of Prime Minister Robert Golob from June 202 ...

, Tonin stepped down on 23 August 2018 to be replaced by

Dejan Židan Dejan Židan () (born 16 October 1967) is a Slovenian politician, former leader of the Social Democrats (Slovenia), Social Democrats, and the former speaker of the National Assembly of Slovenia. A veterinarian by education, Židan served as minis ...

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

. On 13 March 2020, Tonin became the

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in the

14th Government of Slovenia The 14th Government of Slovenia was formed following the resignation of Prime Minister of the 13th Government Marjan Šarec in January 2020. Janez Janša of Slovenian Democratic Party formed a coalition with Modern Centre Party, New Slovenia ...

. On 9 June 2024, Tonin was elected to become a MEP on the

2024 European Parliament election The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth Elections to the European Parliament, parliamentary election since the 1979 European Parliament election, first direct electio ...

when his party NSi remained with its 1 seat after receiving 7.66% of the national vote. Tonin gained the seat as the lead candidate of his party, earning the seat from his colleague, the previous MEP for NSi, Ljudmila Novak. In 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 ...

, Tonin is part of the EPP parliamentary group.

References

1983 births Living people Presidents of the National Assembly (Slovenia) Members of the National Assembly (Slovenia) University of Ljubljana alumni New Slovenia politicians Deputy prime ministers of Slovenia Defence ministers of Slovenia MEPs for Slovenia 2024–2029 {{Slovenia-politician-stub