Ksenija Benedetti steps down as Chief of Protocol

10. april 2018 ob 20.37 • Ljubljana - MMC RTV SLO

She took part in more than 260 state visits at the highest level in Slovenia and abroad. Foto: BoBo/Srdjan Živulović

After 18 years at the job, Ksenija Benedetti bids farewell to her position as Chief of Protocol of the Republic of Slovenia. She took over the position in the year 2000 under the government of Andrej Bajuk. Starting on the 1st of October she will continue her career in the field of academics.

Benedetti made the decision to step down on her own. She wants to be able to do other things in life. There was no pressure from anyone and she confirmed that not even a new challenge like organizing a hypothetical meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un would change her mind. President Borut Pahor and outgoing PM Miro Cerar have already been informed about her decision, as well as all the other state bodies for which the Protocol Office performs services.

The Chief of Protocol is elected to a five year term. Benedetti was last appointed to the position on the 21st of November 2013, which means that her mandate was coming to an end.

Starting on the 1st of October, Benedetti will start giving lectures at the Koper Faculty of Education. In cooperation with the faculty she will also establish an academy for business protocol. She has assured that she will not run as a candidate for any political party or office.

Ksenija Benedetti was first named to office on the 26th of June, 2000, by the then government of Andrej Bajuk. According to her own words she accepted the position assuming that it would only last for a few months. When a new government headed by Janez Drnovšek took office, the government's then Secretary-General Mirko Bandelj "already invited me for a talk and we were already saying goodbye." The very next day she was invited for a talk by PM Drnovšek and he never informed her about his decision, whether he would keep her or not, as every new government has the right to replace staff members within one year. "The days passed, and then so did the years."

Benedetti organized numerous big events and campaigns. Among the most prominent was Slovenia's Presidency over the Council of Europe, the EU-USA summit, the meeting of the then US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the visit of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, the visit of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom ...

She took part in more than 260 state visits at the highest level in Slovenia and abroad, and in 80 state celebrations and other similar projects of importance to the country.