The Republic of Slovakia’s Resident Representative has been elected as the President of the IAEA’s 69th General Conference.
The General Conference elects a President at the beginning of each annual session, following consultations among Member States before the conference. The President holds office for the duration of the conference. Last year, the position was held by the Republic of Korea’s Sang Wook Ham.
Peter Burian was appointed as the Slovak Republic’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other international organizations in Vienna in 2023, following extensive service with Slovakia’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
Burian is also currently serving as the President of the 12th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). He previously served as Slovakia’s Ambassador-at-large for Human Rights from 2021 to 2023, and as the European Union Representative for Central Asia from 2015 to 2021. As State Secretary and First Deputy Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia from 2012 to 2015, he was responsible for areas of security policy, economic diplomacy, development cooperation, international organizations and cooperation with Eastern Partnership countries.
Other senior posts Burian has held include Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to the United States from 2008 to 2012, Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the United Nations in New York from 2004 to 2008, Permanent Representative of Slovakia in the UN Security Council from 2006 to 2007, and Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Western European Union from 1999 to 2003.
In the course of his career, Burian has received several awards and medals of honour for his service and for promoting international cooperation. He is a graduate of St. Petersburg University’s School of Oriental Studies and holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Slovakia’s Comenius University.