Interviewer:    Good afternoon and welcome to the Rumi Forum.  We're very happy to have with us today Slovenian ambassador, Mr. Roman Kirn.  He is the ambassador of Slovenia and he will speak today on Slovenia and Diversity Management, Lessons for the Future.  Ambassador Kirn began his professional and diplomatic career at the federal ministry of foreign affairs of SFR Yugoslavia in 1977.  He also served at the committee on foreign relations of Slovenia, help me with this name sir,

Interviewee:    Ljubljana.

Interviewer:    Ljubljana.

Interviewee:    Ljubljana that’s the capital of Slovenia.

Interviewer:    Yes, exactly but, it’s not a name I'm familiar…

Interviewee:    Okay.

Interviewer:    with speaking, from 1978 to 1980.  He rejoined the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1980 and served as first secretary at the embassy of SFR Yugoslavia in Rangoon in Burma.  He returned to Slovenia in 1984 where he worked at the committee on foreign affairs of Slovenia until 1990 in charge of regional cooperation.  After Slovenia gained its independence in 1991, he was appointed director of multilateral relations department in the ministry of foreign affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.  From 1992 to 1996, he served Minister Counselor at the embassy of Slovenia in Prague, Czech Republic.  Mr. Kirn was appointed state undersecretary in he foreign ministry in 1996 in charge of multilateral affairs.  In this period he was engaged primarily with the UN and NATO related issues.  He was a member to a number of the Slovenian delegations at the UN general assembly sessions.  He was the head of delegation to the Ottawa process that negotiated the convention on prohibition of the anti-personnel land mines and he was a co-founder of a joint Slovenian-US project international trust fund for de-mining and mine-victim assistance ITF in Southeast Europe and served as its first chairman of the managing board.  He was also in charge for the candidacy of Slovenia to gain its first UN Security Council nonpermanency to 1997.  In August 1996, he joined a week long VIP program for NATO candidates in Norfolk at the end rotation of the US state department.  Prior to his appointment as ambassador and permanent representative of Slovenia to the United Nations in New York.  In July 2002, Mr. Kirn served two years 2000 to 2002 as ambassador and permanent representative of Slovenia to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, BNR.  He served as ambassador to the UN until December 2006.  During his tenure, he held different positions and responsibilities such as vice chairman of the UNICEF executive board, vice-president of the UN General Assembly, vice president of 2005 NPT Review Conference, Facilitator for revitalization of UN General Assembly, Facilitator for UN Reform.  In January of 2007, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when he was appointed the director of Department for North and Latin America and the Caribbean.  During Slovenian UN EU presidency, he was in charged of Trans Atlantic Relations in preparations of the EU-US summit held in Slovenia in June 2008.  Mr. Kirn holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Ljubljana and, forgiving me for speaking it improperly, and speaks English, French, Czech, and Serbian and Croatian.  Mr. Kirn is born in Slovenia in December 23, 1952.  He is married Jovana Kirn and has two children.  Please welcome Ambassador Kirn.