Topic: Ursula Plassnik

Ursula Plassnik (born May 23, 1956 in Klagenfurt) is an Austrian diplomat and politician. She was Foreign Minister of Austria between October 2004 and December 2008.

Plassnik is from the Austrian state of Carinthia and grew up in a social democratic family. From 1971 to 1972 she was an exchange student at the Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia, United States. She received a law degree from the University of Vienna in 1977 and a postgraduate Certificate of Advanced European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges. Subsequently, she worked in different positions in the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs until 1997. Until that time she was considered to be politically neutral or even social-democratic.

On July 1, 1997 she was chosen by Wolfgang Schüssel, who was Austrian vice-chancellor at that time, to become his cabinet chief. In 2000 she refused an offer to work for the Council of Europe in order to stay in Austria and help Wolfgang Schüssel when he became Austrian Chancellor in a coalition government with the Austrian Freedom Party. She is considered to be a close friend and confidante to Schüssel.