Veronika Cifrová Ostrihoňová (born 1989) is a former Slovak television editor, reporter, and presenter. She became a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

for the social-liberal

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 ...

party in the June 2024 election.

Early life and education

Ostrihoňová was born on 3 February 1989 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. ...

in what was at the time

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

but is now the capital of

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. She graduated from the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme at the Gymnasium Jur Hronec, a bilingual English-Slovak school. Ostrihoňová studied political science and history at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

(NYU). She graduated "summa cum laude" in 2012 and was a member of the

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

academic society.

Career

Television

Ostrihoňová started to work on television in 2013 on the

Markíza Markíza (also known as Televízia Markíza) is a Slovak television channel launched on August 31, 1996. The channel was founded by a later politician Pavol Rusko, and is now part of the Central European Media Enterprises (CME). It also opera ...

TV station, where she was an editor in the news programme ''Televízne noviny'', focusing on health topics. In 2015, Ostrihoňová presented ''Showbiz noviny''. She hosted the talk show ''Sit down with Veronika'' in 2017, travelling throughout Slovakia to interview inspiring celebrities. Among the programme's guests were journalist , president of Slovakia,

Zuzana Čaputová Zuzana Čaputová (; Strapáková; born 21 June 1973) is a Slovak politician, lawyer and environmental activist who served as the fifth president of Slovakia from 2019 to 2024. Čaputová is the first woman to hold the presidency, as well as the ...

, Slovak ice hockey player Richard Lintner, and actor

Ján Koleník Ján Koleník (born 11 November 1979) is a Slovak actor. He won the ''OTO'' Award for TV Male Actor for three consecutive years between 2010 and 2012. Koleník joined the Slovak National Theatre in 2004. He achieved fame in the Czech Republic ...

. In 2019, Ostrihoňová created a YouTube channel titled ''Very Veri''. In 2019, she won the Slovakian TV Screen Personality award in the News Editor category. Ostrihoňová founded the ''ŽEMY'' podcast in 2020, explaining the role of women in decision-making. From 2021 to 2024, she co-created and moderated the discussion show for women titled ''Silná zostva'' on

Radio and Television of Slovakia Radio and Television of Slovakia ( ), or RTVS, was a nationwide public broadcasting, state-funded organisation in Slovakia. The organisation was created in 2011 following a merger of Slovenská televízia (Slovak Television) with Slovensk ...

. In 2023, the Slovak edition of ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine listed her in seventh place in the ranking of Slovak "influencers". She also was the editor-in-chief of the first ever issue of ''ForbesWomen'' in Slovakia. In 2025 Ostrihoňová was a winner at the MEP Awards for Best Use of Social Media.

Politics

In presenting programmes, her interests were related to gender and other inequalities, current affairs, history, culture, and politics. She led

2024 European Parliament election The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth Elections to the European Parliament, parliamentary election since the 1979 European Parliament election, first direct electio ...

as a Progressive Slovakia candidate, becoming a member of the

Renew Europe Renew Europe (or simply Renew) is a liberal, centrist to centre-right, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Dem ...

grouping within the European Parliament. Ostrihoňová was elected together with five other candidates from the Progressive Slovakia list, the party's biggest-ever delegation in Brussels. As a result of her political activities, RTVS terminated her role in ''Silná zostava''. At the

, Ostrihoňová is a full member of the

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

(LIBE) and the Committee on Public Health (SANT). She is a substitute member of the

Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) is a committee of the European Parliament. Work of the committee The committee is responsible for: * Coordination at Community level of national legislation in the sphere of th ...

(IMCO) as well as the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM). Ostrihoňová is also a member of the

EU–UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly The EU–UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly (EU-UK PPA) is an inter-parliamentary institution established by the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) to bring together members from the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the European ...

and a substitute at the Delegation of the European Parliament for relations with Canada. She is also a Vice-Chair of the EP’s Intergroup on Children’s rights.

Personal life

On 10 September 2016, Ostrihoňová married radio and television presenter and YouTuber

Matej Cifra Matej Cifra (born 10 July 1979), also known as Sajfa, is a Slovak YouTuber, presenter, and former language teacher. In 2024, Cifra ranked eighth in ''Trend.sk'' list of the most expensive Slovak social media influencers with estimated price per ...

. They had a daughter and son, born in 2019 and 2022 respectively.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ostrihoňová, Veronika Cifrová 1989 births Living people Progressive Slovakia politicians 21st-century Slovak women politicians Women MEPs for Slovakia MEPs for Slovakia 2024–2029 New York University alumni