Peter Gajdoš (9 April 1959) is a Slovak retired three star general and politician who served as the

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 ...

from 2016 to 2020.

Biography

Peter Gajdoš was born on 9 April 1959 in

Nitra Nitra (; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra (river), Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of ...

. He studied at the military school 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 ...

and the Land Forces Military Academy in

Vyškov Vyškov (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 21,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative division Vyškov consists of 13 mun ...

and the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (), was a military academy of the Soviet and later the Russian Armed Forces ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. In 1982, he became a platoon commander in the 8th Mechanized Regiment of the

Czechoslovak People's Army The Czechoslovak People's Army (, , ČSLA) was the armed forces of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1954 until 1989. From 1955 it was a member force of the Warsaw Pact. On 14 March 1990 ...

, located in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

. Gajdoš was subsequently promoted to battalion commander in 1984 and regimental commander in 1992. After the

dissolution of Czechoslovakia The dissolution of Czechoslovakia, which took effect on December 31, 1992, was the Self-determination, self-determined Partition (politics), partition of the federal republic of Fifth Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia into the independent ...

, which resulted in the dissolution of the Czechoslovak People's Army, Gajdoš became the commander of the 10th Tank Regiment of the

Slovak Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic were divided from the Czechoslovak Army after dissolution of Czechoslovakia on 1 January 1993. Slovakia joined NATO on 29 March 2004. From 2006 the army transformed into a fully professional organization ...

located in

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

. Between 1995 and 1998 he served as the personal secretary of the defense minister Ján Sitek. Afterwards, he held several high level positions with the General Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces. Between 2010 and 2013, Gajdoš served as the Military Representative of Slovakia to the

NATO Military Committee The NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)'s Military Committee (MC) is the body that is composed of Member states of NATO, member states' Chief of Defence, Chiefs of Defence (CHOD). These national CHODs are regularly represented in the M ...

Political career

Gajdoš became the minister of defence of the

Fico's Third Cabinet Robert Fico's Third Cabinet was the government of Slovakia, headed by Prime Minister Robert Fico. Background It replaced Fico's Second Cabinet on 23 March 2016 following the 2016 parliamentary election, in which Fico's Direction – Social ...

on 23 March 2016 as a personal nominee of

Andrej Danko Andrej Danko (born 12 August 1974) is a Slovak politician who was the speaker of the National Council of the Slovak Republic from 2016 to 2020 and Chairman of the nationalist Slovak National Party since 2012. Early life Born in Revúca, Danko ...

, the chainman of the

Slovak National Party The Slovak National Party (, SNS) is an ultranationalist political party in Slovakia. The party characterizes itself as a nationalist party based on both social and European Christian values. Since 1990 SNS has won seats in every Slovak pa ...

(SNS). Danko knew Gajdoš from the 1990s, when the later served as the personal secretary of the minister Sitek, who was a member of SNS. After Imrich Andrejčák, who served as the defence minister from 1992 to 1994, Gajdoš became the second soldier in the role. The nomination of Gajdoš was controversial, as SNS was seen by the political opposition and pundits as anti-NATO. Nonetheless, after becoming minister, Gajdoš stressed he supports NATO, highlighting his experience as the Slovak representative to the NATO military committee and his background as an apolitical military expert. However, Gajdoš became a member of SNS in 2017. In 2016, Gajdoš controversially promoted Danko, the chairman of SNS, who was a corporal in Slovak army reserves by 8 ranks straight to captain on the justification that the leader of SNS pushed for an increase of defense budget. In 2018, signed a contract with a representative of

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

for the purchase of

F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...

jets as a replacement of Slovakia's aging fleet of

Mig 29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twinjet, twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the large ...

fighters. The order represented at the time the largest purchase of military equipment in the history of Slovakia.

Personal life

Gajdoš is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gajdos, Peter 1959 births Living people Slovak National Party politicians People from Nitra Slovak generals Defence ministers of Slovakia 21st-century Slovak politicians