Robert Kaliňák (born 11 May 1971) is a Slovak politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and

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 ...

in the Fourth cabinet of Robert Fico since 25 October 2023. Kaliňák previously served as Minister of the Interior from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018. He is the longest serving minister in the history of modern Slovakia. He is a member 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 ...

party. On 31 December 2018, Kaliňák resigned his seat in the National Council, effectively retiring from politics until the 2023 parliamentary election.

Early life and education

Kaliňák was born on 11 May 1971 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. ...

. His father was a sailor and his mother, who originated from the Bulgarian minority in

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

, worked as a teacher. Kaliňák's brother Milan is a member of the Taktici rock band, with whom Robert also played occasionally in the past. Whilst studying, Kaliňák successfully entered the world of entrepreneurship in 1990 by opening a student restaurant, a publishing house and printing office of scholarly literature. During his studies, he also started his career in a law office in 1992. Kaliňák and his partners established a chain of restaurants called Steam & Coffee in 1999, while he engaged also in other lines of business. After entering politics, he retired as an executive from all business activities.

Political career

Whilst Kaliňák was holding the post of Minister of Interior, he faced several criticisms from the side of opposition regarding his purchase of shares from shareholder, who was later investigated for tax fraud. Kaliňák resigned as an interior minister as well as the PM deputy on 22 March 2018 after the murder of an investigative reporter Ján Kuciak.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalinak, Robert 1971 births Living people Politicians from Bratislava Businesspeople from Bratislava Slovak people of Bulgarian descent Direction – Social Democracy politicians Deputy prime ministers of Slovakia Interior ministers of Slovakia Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2002-2006 Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2010-2012