See a profile of the European Left's candidate for European Council president here.
ADVERTISEMENTWho is Violeta Tomic?
Tomic is a Slovenian politician and former theatre actor, born in 1963. She studied Stage Acting and Art of Speech at the University of Ljubljana and got her degree in 1985.
Career
For the first 15 years of Tomic’s career, she was employed as an actor by the Ljubljana City Theatre. There, Tomic also directed shows, taught theatre classes and worked as a TV presenter.
She left the City Theatre in 2002 and became self-employed in the arts. She worked an array of jobs in culture, ranging from synchronising cartoons to teaching theatre workshops for children with Down syndrome.
From 2007-2011, Tomic served as a representative to the Slovenian Association of Dramatic Artists for those self-employed in the arts.
Her first foray into politics came in 2014 when she was elected to the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.
Since 2018, she has served as Deputy of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia.
What does she stand for?
Join left-wing political forces
In the European Left's (EL) manifesto, it's clear that the party wants the EU to fight neo-liberalism and to tackle topics such as globalisation, world peace, democracy and social justice, gender equality and a self-determined life of people with disabilities.
An alternative Europe against capitalism
She wants the EU to become autonomous from what she sees as US hegemony. She believes the EU should be an alternative to capitalism, protect the environment and be respectful of human rights.
Peace and solidarity
Tomic wants Europe to be free from nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. She wants Europe to stop settling international conflicts with wars.
The taxation of capital flows
Tomic wants to challenge our current economic and social system, and concentrate on social priorities such as full employment and training, public services and a big investment policy for the environment. She wants to tax capital flows and start concentrating on human beings rather than money.
Give more power to EU institutions
She wants to give more power of action and control to elected institutions such as the national parliaments and the representative committees.
Civil Rights
As a member of Slovenian parliament, Tomic serves on the delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe where she is a spokeswoman on Palestine and LGBT rights.
ADVERTISEMENTSocial media engagement
Tomic has 3,297 followers on Facebook and 951 on Twitter.
Below is her most liked post on Facebook where she calls for the EU to finance social projects in European periphery countries.
Back in January, Tomic posted about her appointment as the European Council's representative for the rights of LGBT people on her Facebook account.