Ljudmila Novak (born 1 August 1959) is a Slovenian politician and a Member of the European Parliament. She is the president of the New Slovenia – Christian People's Party. Since 21 December 2011, she has been the vice-president of the Slovenian National Assembly.[1]

Ljudmila Novak
Deputy Prime Minister of Slovenia
In office
10 February 2012 – 20 March 2013
Minister Without Portfolio for the Slovenian Diaspora
In office
10 February 2012 – 20 March 2013
Deputy-Speaker of the National Assembly
In office
21 December 2011 – 10 February 2012
Member of the National Assembly for Ribnica Electoral District
Assumed office
21 December 2011
Member of the European Parliament for Slovenia
In office
20 July 2004 – 30 July 2009
Leader of New Slovenia
In office
15 November 2008 – 31 January 2018
Mayor of Moravče
In office
1 December 2002 – 22 October 2006
Assumed office
1 July 2019
Personal details
Born (1959-08-01) 1 August 1959 (age 65)
Maribor, Yugoslavia
(now Slovenia)
Political partyNew Slovenia
Alma materUniversity of Maribor

Early life and career

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Novak was born in Maribor. She studied Slovene and German language at the University of Maribor. Between 1982 and 2001, she worked as a school teacher, first in Murska Sobota, and then in Višnja Gora and finally in Moravče.[2]

Political career

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Novak entered politics in 2001, when she was elected mayor of Moravče. In 2002, she became a member of the Executive Council of New Slovenia party. In 2004, she was elected to the European Parliament. As a member of the European People's Party, she was named a member of the Committee on Culture and Education. In 2022, she joined the Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware.[3][4] She is also a substitute for the Committee on Regional Development, a member of the delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and a substitute for the delegation for relations with Mercosur.

After the Slovenian parliamentary election of 2008, when New Slovenia failed to gain any seats in the National Assembly (NA), the lower house of the Slovenian parliament, Novak was elected president of the party. At the 2011 Slovenian parliamentary election, the party won 4 seats in the NA.[5]

She learned and practiced the language Esperanto in her youth, but she does not actively speak it today. She still understands it. In 2007 she participated in the 7th congress of the European Esperanto Union in Maribor, Slovenia. On 21 January 2009, she presented to the European Parliament in the Committee of Culture (under the sign PE 416.668v01-00) in the framework of the debate/opinion on multilingualism of Vasco Graça Moura three proposals for change in article 4, touching on Esperanto.

References

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  1. ^ "Virant Elected Speaker as PS and SocDems Sidelined (III)". Slovenian Press Agency. 21 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Ljudmila Novak - poslanka Evropskega parlamenta". ljudmilanovak.org. Archived from the original on 10 December 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  3. ^ Members of the Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware Archived 1 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine European Parliament.
  4. ^ Parliament names MEPs to sit on three new committees Archived 2 April 2022 at the Wayback Machine European Parliament, press release of 24 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Republic of Slovenia Early Elections for Deputies to the National Assembly 2011". National Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
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Party political offices
Preceded by President of New Slovenia
2008–2018
Incumbent