Slovak FM to run for post as UN chief

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia

Slovakian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Miroslav Lajcak was nominated on Wednesday to be the United Nations’ next secretary-general.

According to local media, Prime Minister Robert Fico said that the government unanimously approved Lajcak’s candidacy. Touting Lajcak as an “extraordinary” candidate, he added that the diplomat has a strong chance of becoming the first UN chief from Eastern Europe.

Before being named Slovakia’s foreign minister and deputy prime minister in 2012, Lajcak worked as the EU's External Action Service managing director for Russia, Eastern neighborhood and the Western Balkans.

Lajcak is set to officially announce his candidacy on June 7 in New York.

The second term of current UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon, from South Korea, will conclude at the end of 2016.