Ivan Šimko (born 1 January 1955) is Slovak politician and former defense and interior affairs minister. A founding member of the

Christian Democratic Movement The Christian Democratic Movement (, KDH) is a Christian democratic political party in Slovakia that is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and an observer of the Centrist Democrat International The Centrist Democrat International ...

(KDH) in 1990, Šimko left to co-found the

Slovak Democratic and Christian Union Slovak may refer to: * Something from, related to, or belonging to Slovakia (''Slovenská republika'') * Slovaks, a Western Slavic ethnic group * Slovak language, an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages * Slovak, Arkan ...

in 2000. After a disagreement with Prime Minister

Mikuláš Dzurinda Mikuláš Dzurinda (; born 4 February 1955) is a Slovak politician who was the prime minister of Slovakia from 30 October 1998 to 4 July 2006. Dzurinda is the founder and leader of the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) and then the Slovak Democr ...

, he led a group of MPs to form the

Free Forum The Free Forum (, ; "Free" in the sense of "freedom") was a political party in Slovakia, founded in 2004 by dissident parliamentarians from the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ). Zuzana Martináková is the leader of the party. The Fr ...

in January 2004. He surprisingly lost the party's leadership election two months later to Zuzana Martináková, and he left in October 2004 to form

Mission 21 – New Christian Democracy Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality *Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * O ...

. In May 2010, he returned to the Christian Democratic Movement. On 15 May 2023, president

Zuzana Čaputová Zuzana Čaputová (; Strapáková; born 21 June 1973) is a Slovak politician, lawyer and environmental activist who served as the fifth president of Slovakia from 2019 to 2024. Čaputová is the first woman to hold the presidency, as well as the ...

installed Šimko as Minister of Interior Affairs in her technocratic government. On 19 July 2023, he was removed as a minister due to concerns about political interference in police work.

References

1955 births Living people Politicians from Bratislava Deputy prime ministers of Slovakia Defence ministers of Slovakia Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 1994-1998 Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 1998–2002 Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2002-2006 Interior ministers of Slovakia Comenius University alumni {{Slovakia-politician-stub