Ivan Štefunko (born 4 March 1977) is a Slovak politician, entrepreneur, and co-founder of multiple companies. He served as chairman of

Progressive Slovakia Progressive Slovakia (, PS) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Slovakia established in 2017. The party is led by Michal Šimečka, a former Vice President of the European Parliament. It is a member of the Renew Europe group and ...

from 2018 until 2019. Since 2023, he serves as an MP of the

National Council of Slovakia The National Council of the Slovak Republic (, 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 proportional representation with seats dis ...

Early life

Štefunko was born on 4 March 1977 in

Poprad Poprad (; ; ) is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatras, High Tatra Mountains, famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. The largest town of the Spiš region and the largest of all towns in the vic ...

. He spent most of his childhood in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

due to his parents' job. He attended

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

from 2004 until 2006, majoring in European studies.

Political career

Upon graduation from university, Štefunko became chairman of the now-defunct political party Young Democratic Left. His political activities continued under the leadership of Milan Ftáčnik, but it also disappeared due to the merger with

Direction – Social Democracy Direction – Social Democracy (, Smer–SD), also commonly referred to as Smer, is a left-wing nationalism, left-wing nationalist and left-wing populism, left-wing populist political party in Slovakia led by the incumbent Prime Minister of Slov ...

. In the 2010 interview for

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, 'Truth') is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most in ...

, Štefunko criticised the policy of Direction and

Robert Fico Robert Fico (; born 15 September 1964) is a Slovak politician who has served as the prime minister of Slovakia since 2023. He previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. He founded the left-wing political party D ...

. Štefunko further stated that Direction – Social Democracy has not brought any fundamental improvement in people's lives in 10 years. Mikloš said at the time: "Štefunko wanted to continue playing different games, so he asked the great Mikloš for money. He arranged for him to contact ProPartners at the time, and they are still financing him today." In 2016, Štefunko co-founded the civil association Progressive Slovakia that aimed to offer progressive solutions to social problems in Slovakia. Sociologist Slosiarik was very interested in this type of party project, but according to him, Štefunko's personality will not be enough for success. 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 populist Ordinary People and Independent Personalities–NOVA–Christian Union–Change from Below (OĽaNO–NOVA–KÚ� ...

, Štefunko was the sixth candidate of the Progressive Slovakia/ Democrats coalition, where he received 8,481 votes. Upon taking preferential votes into account, Štefunko was ranked 14th among the candidates. Due to the result of the coalition, he did not enter the parliament. Štefunko gained an MP seat in the

2023 Slovak parliamentary election Early parliamentary elections were held in the Slovakia, Slovak Republic on 30 September 2023 to elect members of the National Council (Slovakia), National Council. Regular elections were scheduled to be held in 2024. However, on 15 December 202 ...

Personal life

Štefunko is married and has three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stefunko, Ivan 1977 births Living people Slovak businesspeople Progressive Slovakia politicians People from Poprad Matej Bel University alumni Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2023–2027