Ambassador Vladimir Drobnjak is the Permanent Representative of Croatia to the United Nations. He was elected as Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Previously, Mr. Drobnjak has served as the Permanent Representative of Croatia to the European Union in Brussels and was Head of the Mission of Croatia to the European Union from February 2012 to June 2013. He began his diplomatic career in 1992, when he became Deputy Permanent Representative of Croatia to the United Nations in New York. Since then, his assignments have included Assistant Minister and Head of the Division of Multilateral Affairs in Zagreb, Member of the Negotiating Team of Croatia for the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union, and Chief Negotiator for Croatia's accession talks to the European Union. Mr. Drobnjak also worked as a United States- and United Nations-based correspondent for the Croatian daily newspapers, Vjesnik and Večernji list, and for Croatian radio and television from 1988 to 1992. He was Editor-in-Chief of the Sunday Vjesnik between 1986 and 1988. Mr. Drobnjak was educated at the University of Zagreb School of Law, from which he holds a Juris Doctor degree.