Dragutin Mate

Who is Dragutin Mate?

Dragutin Mate is a Slovenian diplomat and politician. He is a member of the Slovenian Democratic Party. Between 2004 and 2008 he served as Minister of Interior in the centre-right government led by Janez Janša. Since December 2011, he is a deputy in the National Assembly.

Mate was born in Čakovec, Croatia, to Croatian parents. He spent his childhood in the city of Maribor in eastern Slovenia, where his parents moved for professional reasons. He graduated at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana. In 1989 he started working as a high school teacher at the prestigious Poljane Grammar School in Ljubljana.

In 1990, after the victory of the Democratic Opposition of Slovenia in the first free elections in Slovenia, he got employed at the Slovenian Ministry of Defence. He became head of the department of Civil Protection at the ministry, later moving to the counter-intelligence section. He participated in the Slovenian Independence War of June 1991. In 1992, he became the main adviser for international cooperation in the Defence Minister's Office. After 1994, he switched to the diplomatic service. Between 1996 and 2000, he served as the Slovenian military attaché in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Between 2000 and 2004 he resumed work at the Ministry of Defence. In 2004 he was appointed as Minister of Interior in the cabinet of Janez Janša. After the victory of the left-wing coalition led by Borut Pahor in the 2008 parliamentary elections, he was replaced by Katarina Kresal.