Matúš Šutaj Eštok (born 4 February 1987) is a Slovak politician who has served as the Minister of Interior of Slovakia since 2023. He was an MP of the National Council.

Early life and education

In 2011, Šutaj Eštok majored in law from

Comenius University Comenius University Bratislava () is the largest university in Slovakia, with most of its faculties located in Bratislava. It was founded in 1919, shortly after the creation of Czechoslovakia. It is named after Jan Amos Comenius, a 17th-century ...

. He worked as the lawyer for the Comenius University. Šutaj Eštok served as chairman of the Government Office of the Slovak Republic from 2018 until 2020. He can speak English and German apart from his native Slovak.

Political career

2020 Slovak parliamentary election

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� ...

, Šutaj Eštok was elected to parliament on the list of the

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 ...

(SMER-SD) party. He left SMER-SD and joined the newly-founded

Voice – Social Democracy Voice – Social Democracy (, Hlas-SD) is a social democratic and populist political party in Slovakia. It was founded in 2020 by dissidents from Direction – Social Democracy (Smer-SD) led by former prime minister Peter Pellegrini. In October ...

party later that November.

Dismissal of Štefan Hamran

On 10 October 2023, after then-president of Slovak Police Force Štefan Hamran announced his resignation, Šutaj Eštok dismissed Hamran from his position three days before Hamran's planned retirement and transferred him to the District Directorate of the Slovak Police Force 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 ...

. The same year on 15 November, Šutaj Eštok has temporarily appointed Ľubomír Solák as president of the Slovak Police Force. On 29 November, Šutaj Eštok announced that he appointed Solák as president of Slovak Police Force permanently. The former also abolished his positions as first vice president and established a new position of vice president for migration.

Ministry of Interior

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 ...

, Šutaj Eštok finished tenth place with 27,093 votes, later becoming Minister of Interior of Slovakia. He was the first minister of

Fico's Fourth Cabinet Fico's Fourth Cabinet is the incumbent government of Slovakia. It is a three-party coalition government composed of Direction – Social Democracy (Smer), Voice – Social Democracy (Hlas) and the Slovak National Party (SNS). It was appointed on ...

to face a vote of no confidence. The opposition blamed his for unlawfully sacking police investigators working on the corruption cases of previous government of

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 ...

and wasting public resources on ineffective massive migration crackdowns. Nonetheless, the no confidence vote failed to gain a majority of votes in the National Council. Šutaj Eštok was also criticised for the measures on the Slovak–Hungarian border, which the opposition considers to be a theatrical measure.

Personal life

Šutaj Eštok was married to Martina Jančíková, who worked as an assistant to then-member of

Slovak National Council The Slovak National Council (, SNR) was an organisation that was formed at various times in the 19th and 20th centuries to act as the highest representative of the Slovak nation. It originated in the mid-19th century as a focus for Slovak nationali ...

, Erika Jurinová. He has two children named Richard and Diana with his partner, Anna.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutaj Estok, Matus 1987 births Living people People from Michalovce Direction – Social Democracy politicians Voice – Social Democracy politicians Interior ministers of Slovakia Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2020–2023 Comenius University alumni