
Marija Pejčinović Burič has worked as the 14th Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia and Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia from 19 June 2017 to 19 July 2019. On 26 June 2019, she was elected as the 14th Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
In 2000 Pejčinović Burić was appointed Assistant Minister at Croatia’s Ministry of European Integration. In 2001 she was included in the negotiating team for the EU-Croatia Stabilisation and Association Agreement. From 2003 onwards she worked as lecturer on European integration at the seminars of the Croatian Diplomatic Academy.
In 2004 Pejčinović Burić was appointed State Secretary at the Ministry of European Integration and the following year as State Secretary for European Integration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. She served as National Coordinator for Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA) programs (2004-2006), National Coordinator for Assistance Programmes and Co-operation with the EU as well as member of the working group on the free movement of capital of Croatia’s EU accession negotiations (2005-2006). From 2006 Pejčinović Burić was member of Croatia’s EU accession negotiations team, and negotiator for the acquis chapters on External Relations, Foreign, Security and Defence Policy, Institutions and Other Issues, as well as chairperson for Croatia in the EU-Croatia Stabilisation and Association Committee and chairperson of the Croatia – Baden-Württemberg Mixed Commission (2006-2008).
for a six-month term in 2018. From 2017 until 2019, she also co-chaired the European People’s Party (EPP) trade ministers meetings. As of 18 september 2019 she is Secretary General of the Council of Europe