During the candidacy the government will provide Türk "adequate support," the Government Communication Office said in a press release.

The news confirms media reports in late December that the Slovenian diplomatic network had been instructed to start laying the groundwork for Türk's candidacy.

It has long been speculated that after failing to get re-elected as president of Slovenia in 2012, Türk would seek a senior position at the UN, where he served as Slovenia's ambassador between 1992 and 2000 and then as assistant secretary general between 2000 and 2005.

Several cabinet members endorsed Türk's candidacy, telling reporters ahead of the government session that his bid was useful for Slovenia.

Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec said the government did not have to support what is a personal candidacy, but the ministry nevertheless proposed a formal endorsement.

The election of the secretary general will not take place until 2016, but it is appropriate that everything which can be done is done in time, according to Erjavec.

Candidates for secretary general are not proposed by individual countries, though their support matters. They are put forward by geographical groups and the Eastern European group has never had a secretary general before.

Ban Ki-moon's second five-year term at the helm of the organisation ends at the end of 2016. Secretaries general are not term-limited, but nobody has served more than two terms before.

Milan Brglez, a professor of international relations at the Ljubljana Faculty of Social Sciences, said it was crucial that Türk has clear support from the state.

"If the support is clear, there is a chance that he gets relatively far in this procedure. Whether that means he can go all the way, is difficult to say," Brglez told the STA.

What speaks in favour of Türk's candidacy is that Eastern Europe has not had a secretary general yet, and that Türk has already served in a senior position at the UN.

But his prospects also depend on other candidates and on how suitable he is deemed to be among the major countries, in particular the permanent members of the UN Security Council, Brglez said.