Biographical Information

Mirko Stefanovic was born on 18 April 1952 in Novi Sad, Serbia. He graduated in 1974 with a law degree from the University of Novi Sad.

Mr. Stefanovic worked at a law practice in Novi Sad for two years prior to taking a position as the Secretary of the Matica Srpska Gallery in 1976. In 1979, he joined the Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina as an Advisor and Assistant Secretary of the Council followed by a position and Council Undersecretary and Advisor to the President of the Executive Council.

In 1986, Mr. Stefanovic joined the Federal Secretariat for Foreign Affairs of Yugoslavia in Belgrade. During the same year, he took up a position at the Embassy of Yugoslavia in Baghdad, Iraq. Mr. Stefanovic completed his tenure in Baghdad as a First Secretary and Consul at the Embassy in 1991. Upon his return to Belgrade, he worked in the Directorate for Middle East and Africa in the Federal Secretariat for Foreign Affairs of Yugoslavia. Mr. Stefanovic served as the Chargé d’Affaires and Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in Tel Aviv, Israel, respectively, from 1992 to 1997 and 1997 to 2001. During this period, he was also covering relations with the Palestinian Autonomous Authority in Gaza (Gaza Strip) and Ramallah (West Bank), where he had a regular meetings with number of the highest officials of Israel and Palestine.

Following the completion of his mandate in Israel, Mr. Stefanovic returned to Yugoslavia and worked in the private business sector. From 2003. to 2007, he worked as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of “Carnex,” the largest meat processing company in the Balkans.

In 2007, Mr. Stefanovic returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia and was appointed as its Secretary-General. In 2009, he was appointed as the State Secretary of the Ministry. From 2011 to 2015, Mr. Stefanovic served as Ambassador of Serbia to Portugal and Cape Verde.

During his diplomatic career, Mr. Stefanovic conducted numerous lectures and discussions on international relations and foreign policy issues, including with the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belgrade, during his official travel abroad and to foreign dignitaries and students visiting Serbia. Since 2015, Mr. Stefanovic has been a guest professor at the NOVA University Law School in Lisbon, Portugal, and teaching a course on international politics. The emphasis of his lectures was the deeper understanding of the regional crisis (especially Middle East and North Africa) and their development into the global challenges in
the international community. He has also lectured at the ISCTE Lisbon University Institute on the topic of globalisation.

He also has published number of articles in the Serbian press on the situation in the Middle East.

Mr. Stefanovic speaks English and German and has a working knowledge of Portuguese and
Hebrew. He is married with two children.