Jaroslav Naď (born 21 March 1981) is a Slovak politician who served as

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

between March 2020 and May 2023, as a nominee of OĽaNO. He specialises in national security issues and previously worked with Globsec. Naď currently serves as a deputy chairman of the Democrats.

Early life and education

Naď grew up in

Banská Štiavnica Banská Štiavnica (; ; , ) is a town in central Slovakia, in the middle of an immense caldera created by the collapse of an ancient volcano. For its size, the caldera is known as the Štiavnica Mountains. Banská Štiavnica has a population of ...

and settled in the village of Hrubá Borša near Senec. He has a brother named René and is the brother-in-law of Anton Tretinár. Naď majored in Political Science at Matej Bel University in

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Greater Fatra, Veľká Fatra, and t ...

in 2007 and received further training at the

European Security and Defence College The European Security and Defence College (ESDC) is an autonomous EU body under the overall responsibility of the HR/VP, that provides training and education at EU level in the field of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), which is pa ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. In 2018, he obtained his PhD from the Armed Forces Academy of General Milan Rastislav Štefánik.

Political career

Naď joined

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 2000, but was expelled from the party after paying membership fees. Between 2012 and 2013, Naď worked as a diplomat, head of the defense section at the Permanent Delegation of Slovakia to NATO as well as Permanent Representation of Slovakia to the European Union. From 2014 until 2018, he worked as a manager of the company Cypher.

Minister of Defence (2020-2023)

After the electoral victory of OĽANO, Naď became the

. Beginning with March 2023, he serves as a deputy chairman of the Democrats party. During the parliamentary elections in February 2020, in which Naď ran for the OĽANO movement, he won 101,819 preferential votes. In April 2020, Naď announced the cancellation of the ongoing tender for the purchase of 4x4 armored vehicles for the Slovak Armed Forces and would suspend the same tender for 8x8 vehicles. In 2023, Robert Fico had claimed that Naď had requested a regional political position from Fico and partisan leadership. Following the denial, Fico alleged that Naď had left the party.

Post-Minister of Defence

Beginning with 1 November 2023, Naď works as an advisor to the Minister of Defense of the Czech Republic,

Jana Černochová Jana Černochová (born 26 October 1973) is a Czech politician who has served as Ministry of Defence (Czech Republic), Minister of Defence in the Cabinet of Petr Fiala since December 2021. She has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies of the C ...

Personal life

Naď is trilingual, able to speak English and German apart from his native Slovak. He plays football in his spare time. Naď is divorced with three children: two from his previous marriage with Katarína Baláková, and one from his partner, journalist Barbara Túrosová. He also owns a luxury apartment in Banská Štiavnica.

Controversy

Naď was linked with accusations of

nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...

when his former partner Barbara Túrosová was assigned spokeswoman of the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...

. She denied the allegations, referring to her long-term journalism career in TA3. Naď was previously linked with nepotism back in 2014, when his brother René was appointed as the Permanent Representation of the Slovak Republic to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, while Naď was one of the officers at the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. No verdicts were declared in either of the cases.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nad, Jaroslav 1981 births Living people Politicians from Nitra Direction – Social Democracy politicians OĽaNO politicians Democrats (Slovakia) politicians Defence ministers of Slovakia Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2020–2023 Diplomats for Slovakia Matej Bel University alumni