Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar arrives in Egypt on Monday on her first official visit. She comes as a distinguished guest, and her strong support for the Palestinian cause has earned her considerable respect and admiration among the Egyptian people.
Widely regarded as one of Europe’s most prominent advocates for Palestinian rights, she is seen as a role model for her courage and outspokenness, particularly in her criticism of the Israeli government’s policies and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Musar, the first woman to serve as Slovenia’s president, has described the Israeli military’s actions in the Gaza Strip as “genocide”. She is also a staunch advocate of women’s rights and their access to leadership positions around the world.
One of her most prominent gestures came last June, when she raised the Palestinian flag outside the presidential palace as a reminder of grave violations of international humanitarian law. In a statement, she said: “The war being waged against the Palestinians is not over, and the people of Gaza and the West Bank are still unable to live in peace and dignity. Raising the Palestinian flag on the facade of the presidential palace today, where it will remain for a week before being moved inside the palace and displayed in front of everyone visiting my office, carries a broader significance. It symbolizes grave violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, not only in Palestine but also in other parts of the world. It is a simple call to respect a fundamental principle of civilization: human dignity for all.”
Musar has also strongly criticised the Slovenian government’s decision last August to use its veto to block a joint European statement condemning Israeli settlement expansion. She said the move damaged Slovenia’s international reputation, stressing that settlement expansion violates international law and undermines the two-state solution.
On numerous occasions and at various conferences, she has spoken out about the tragic situation in Gaza, expressing her views with conviction and courage.
In a speech in June 2024 at a conference titled “From the Balkans to Gaza: A Critical Analysis of Genocide”, marking the 29th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide, she said: “After Srebrenica, we said never again. Yet today, we are repeating the very same grave mistake in Gaza.”
She stressed that the international community has a duty to stop acts of genocide. That duty stems not only from the horrific experience of Srebrenica but also from the atrocities that followed the failure to honour the promise of “never again”, whether during the two world wars or in other parts of the world in later periods, as in Rwanda.
“Protecting human dignity is the foundation of everything. What is happening in Gaza represents a defeat for humanity. Politicians must stop turning a blind eye and take action against genocidal practices. If we fail to act, we are setting a bad example for future generations,” she said.
In a similar vein, in her speech marking Slovenia’s Independence Day on June 24, 2025, Pirc Musar said: “Gaza is not merely synonymous with inhumanity; it has also become a symbol of the destruction of the foundations of international law.”
She added: “Who among us could have imagined that a day would come when sanctions would be imposed on a prosecutor and judges at the International Criminal Court simply for carrying out their duty to pursue those responsible for crimes against humanity? Who among us could have imagined that the UN secretary-general would be declared persona non grata, simply because he stood up in defense of the founding charter of the United Nations, a charter born from the ashes of the horrors of World War II and embodying the humanitarian values that we, as an international community, should strive to uphold?”
The Slovenian president is also a leading advocate for the rights and empowerment of women and girls. In an address to the World Women’s Forum in August 2024, she said: “Slovenia and its allies in international forums raise their voices loudly whenever they hear of the horrific crimes committed against girls in Palestine, Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine, Sudan and other countries affected by war, where girls are denied access to education, forced into marriage and subjected to horrific sexual violence.”
Musar was born in Ljubljana in 1968 and graduated from the Faculty of Law in 1992. She worked as a journalist and news presenter at Slovenian Radio and Television and other television channels before moving to the financial sector in 2001, joining the country’s largest private financial institution.
In April 2003, she took charge of the Supreme Court’s training and communications centre. She was subsequently elected to the Slovenian National Assembly and, in 2004, became the country’s second Information Commissioner, responsible for access to public information.
Musar took the oath as a lawyer before the Slovenian Bar Association in 2014 and earned a doctorate in law from the University of Vienna in November 2015. She later served on the association’s Executive Board from 2021 to 2022, before assuming the presidency of Slovenia in December 2022.
