Quick Facts
Biography
Ivo Vajgl (born 3 March 1943) is a Slovenian politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Slovenia. He is a member of Zares, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
Political career
Born in Maribor, he attended the University of Ljubljana. He was appointed foreign minister by Prime Minister Anton Rop on 6 July 2004, replacing Dimitrij Rupel, who left the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS) party to join the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party. Vajgl's tenure ended on 3 December 2004 with Rupel's reappointment to the position in the new administration of Janez Janša, formed after the 2004 elections to the National Assembly, which were held on 3 October.
As foreign minister, Vajgl joined Rop in signing the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe in Rome on 29 October 2004. Between 2004 and 2007, Vajgl worked as the advisor for foreign policy in the cabinet of President of Slovenia Janez Drnovšek. From the mid-1990s to 2007, Vajgl was a member of the LDS party. In 2007, Vajgl left the LDS party and joined the newly formed party Zares.
In the 2009 European Parliament elections, Ivo Vajgl headed the list of seven candidates for the party Zares. On 7 June 2009 he was elected a Member of the European Parliament with 9.77% of the vote and 21,031 preferential votes.