Tomáš Taraba (born 13 February 1980) is a Slovak politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Minister of Environment in the
Fourth cabinet of Robert Fico since 25 October 2023.
With a previous business background, Taraba was elected to the
National Council in
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
on the list of
neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
Kotlebists – People's Party Our Slovakia. From 2019 to 2023, he served as chairman of
Life – National Party
Life – National Party ( sk, Život – Národná strana), formerly known as Christian Democracy – Life and Prosperity - Alliance for Slovakia ( sk, Kresťanská demokracia – Život a prosperita - Aliancia za Slovensko, KDŽP), is a Christia ...
. Taraba suspended his party membership to run on the list of the
Slovak National Party, on which he was elected in the
2023 parliamentary election.
Early life and education
Taraba was educated at
Pezinok
Pezinok (; hu, Bazin; german: Bösing; lat, Bazinium) is a town in southwestern Slovakia. It is roughly northeast of Bratislava and, as of December 2018, had a population of 23,002.
Pezinok lies near the Little Carpathians and thrives mainly ...
Grammar School. Afterwards, he studied political science at the
Comenius University, graduating in 2003.
Taraba also studied business management at the
University of Regensburg.
Upon graduation, Taraba worked as in the private sector and in the
SARIO government agency.
Political career
Taraba acted as an advisor to the chairman of the
Christian Democratic Movement,
Ján Figeľ
Ján Figeľ (born 20 January 1960 in Čaklov) is a Slovak politician.
Figeľ served as European Commissioner from 2004 to 2009, then as Slovak minister of Transports from 2010 to 2012.
From 2016 to 2019 he was European Commission special envo ...
, which both of them denied. He worked at SARIO in the foreign direct investment section in 2006.
Taraba joined
Life – National Party
Life – National Party ( sk, Život – Národná strana), formerly known as Christian Democracy – Life and Prosperity - Alliance for Slovakia ( sk, Kresťanská demokracia – Život a prosperita - Aliancia za Slovensko, KDŽP), is a Christia ...
in 2019 and became its chairman at the same time. In the
2020 Slovak parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 29 February 2020 to elect all 150 members of the National Council.
The anti-corruption list led by Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) movement emerged as the largest parliame ...
, he was among the Life members elected on the ballot of the far right
People's Party Our Slovakia
People's Party Our Slovakia ( sk, Ľudová strana naše Slovensko, ĽSNS) is a far-right neo-Nazi political party in Slovakia. The party claims to derive its origin from the legacy of Ľudovít Štúr, Andrej Hlinka and Jozef Tiso.
Positioned ...
.
Taraba left ĽSNS after political disagreements with
Milan Mazurek
Milan Mazurek (born 24 January 1994) is a Slovak MP for People's Party Our Slovakia (ĽSNS; Marian Kotleba's party). In 2019, he was convicted of defamation of race based on his anti-Romani statements, and became the first Slovak parliamentarian ...
.
In March 2021 interviews during the coalition crisis, Taraba expressed possible support for the minority government after the potential departure of SaS and For the People.
Taraba gave up his position as chairman of Life and ran as an independent candidate on the SNS candidate list in the
2023 Slovak parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Slovakia on 30 September 2023 to elect members of the National Council.
The 2020 Slovak parliamentary election resulted in a coalition government led by the Ordinary People and Independent ...
. He became Minister of Environment on 25 October 2023.
Personal life
Taraba is multilingual, able to speak Slovak, French, German, and English. He is married to his wife Denisa with five children.
See also
*
List of members of the National Council of Slovakia, 2020–2023
The National Council of Slovakia was elected at the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election and consisted of 150 representatives elected from party lists. Those elected will sat on the National Council until 2023.
This parliament had to conduct som ...
References
External links
Tomáš Tarabaon
National Council of Slovakia
The National Council of the Slovak Republic ( sk, Národná rada Slovenskej republiky, abbreviated to ''NR SR'') is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameral and consists of 150 members, who are elected by universal suffrage under pr ...
official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taraba, Tomáš
Living people
1980 births
21st-century Slovak politicians
Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2020–2023
Politicians from Bratislava
Comenius University alumni
University of Regensburg alumni