Peter Pellegrini
Pellegrini in 2019
Prime Minister of Slovakia
In office
22 March 2018 – 21 March 2020
PresidentAndrej Kiska
Zuzana Čaputová
Deputy
See list
Preceded byRobert Fico
Succeeded byIgor Matovič
Other positions in the executive
Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia for Investment and Informatization
In office
23 March 2016 – 22 March 2018
Prime MinisterRobert Fico
Preceded byĽubomír Vážny
Succeeded byRichard Raši
Minister of Health
Acting
17 December 2019 – 21 March 2020
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byAndrea Kalavská
Succeeded byMarek Krajčí
Minister of Finance
Acting
11 April 2019 – 7 May 2019
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byPeter Kažimír
Succeeded byLadislav Kamenický
Minister of Interior
Acting
17 April 2018 – 26 April 2018
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byTomáš Drucker
Succeeded byDenisa Saková
Minister of Culture
Acting
7 March 2018 – 22 March 2018
Prime MinisterRobert Fico
Preceded byMarek Maďarič
Succeeded byĽubica Laššáková
Minister of Education, Science,
Research and Sport
In office
3 July 2014 – 25 November 2014
Prime MinisterRobert Fico
Preceded byDušan Čaplovič
Succeeded byJuraj Draxler
State Secretary of Finance
In office
11 April 2012 – 3 July 2014
MinisterPeter Kažimír
Speaker of the National Council
Assumed office
25 October 2023
PresidentZuzana Čaputová
Deputy
See list
Preceded byBoris Kollár
In office
25 November 2014 – 23 March 2016
PresidentAndrej Kiska
Deputy
See list
Preceded byPavol Paška
Succeeded byAndrej Danko
Other positions in the legislature
Deputy Speaker of the National Council
In office
24 March 2020 – 21 October 2020
Serving with Gábor Grendel, Milan Laurenčík and Juraj Šeliga
SpeakerBoris Kollár
Member of the National Council
Assumed office
21 March 2020
In office
25 November 2014 – 23 March 2016
In office
4 July 2006 – 11 April 2012
Leader of Voice – Social Democracy
Assumed office
28 November 2020
Preceded byOffice established
Personal details
Born (1975-10-06) 6 October 1975
Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia
(now Slovakia)
Political partyVoice – Social Democracy (2020–present)
Other political
affiliations		Direction – Social Democracy (2000–2020)
Alma materMatej Bel University
Technical University of Košice (Ing.)

Peter Pellegrini (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈpeter ˈpeleɡriːni]; born 6 October 1975) is a Slovak politician who served as the prime minister of Slovakia from 2018 to 2020 and Minister of Health from December 2019 to March 2020. He previously served as deputy prime minister (2016–2018) and minister for Education and Science (2014), as well as spending two years as speaker of the National Council (2014–2016). Pellegrini had been a member of Direction – Social Democracy until he left the party and founded Voice – Social Democracy in late June 2020.

Education and private career

Pellegrini's studied at the Faculty of Economics of Matej Bel University and the Technical University of Košice, focusing on banking, investment and finance at the latter.[1] Between 2002 and 2006, he worked as an economist and later as advisor to National Council member for Privatization and Economy Ľubomír Vážny, supported by ĽS-HZDS, SNS and Smer-SD.[1][2]

Political involvement

Early functions

In the 2006 parliamentary election, he was elected to the National Council for Direction – Social Democracy (Smer-SD). He was reelected in the 2010 and 2012 elections.[1] Between 2012 and 3 July 2014 he was State Secretary for Finance. He later briefly became Minister for Education and Science.[2]

First mandate as Speaker of the National Council

On 25 November 2014, he was elected Speaker of the National Council, succeeding Pavol Paška.[3] In 2015, he was appointed Digital Champion of Slovakia, a European Union appointed position to promote the benefits of an inclusive digital society.[4]

Prime Minister of Slovakia

Pellegrini meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House, 3 May 2019
Pellegrini meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow, on 26 February 2020

Made Deputy Prime Minister for Investments in 2016, under Prime Minister Robert Fico,[5] Pellegrini was sworn in as head of government after his predecessor resigned on 15 March 2018 in the wake of the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak.[6] President Andrej Kiska approved of Pellegrini's Cabinet on 21 March 2018;[7] 81 members of the National Council voted in favour of approving the cabinet the next week.[8]

After serving as Acting Interior Minister in April 2018, Pellegrini temporarily took on the role of Finance Minister when Peter Kažimír left to become Governor of the National Bank of Slovakia in 2019.[9]

Later, in December 2019, he assumed the office of Minister of Health after Andrea Kalavská resigned.[10]

His party lost the 2020 parliamentary election to the populist, anti-corruption party Ordinary People led by Igor Matovič.[11][12][13][14]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, as medical supplies began to dwindle, nations began competing for supplies outside their jurisdictions, either paying companies to reroute or seizing equipment intended for other countries. Pellegrini said he booked two million masks from Ukraine, the requirement was payment in cash. However, a German agent appeared, paid more for the masks, and bought them. Ukraine Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba responded to the situation by saying there was no country in Europe that would not hunt face masks and respirators around the world.[15]

Second mandate as Speaker of the National Council

On 25 October 2023 he was re-elected Speaker of the National Council with 131 votes.[16]

Personal life

Pellegrini has Italian ancestors.[17] His great-grandfather Leopoldo Pellegrini came to Austria-Hungary to participate in the construction of the railway between Levice and Zvolen.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Panellist – Peter Pellegrini". Globsec. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Novým ministrom školstva sa stal Peter Pellegrini" (in Slovak). Slovak Ministry for Education, Science, Research and Sport. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Novým predsedom parlamentu sa stal Peter Pellegrini" (in Slovak). Teraz. January 1970. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "The Digital Champion of Slovakia". European Commission. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Robert Fico appointed for third time as Slovak PM". Xinhua. 24 March 2016. Archived from the original on 31 March 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "Reshuffled Slovak Cabinet Takes Office, Easing Crisis After Journalist's Murder". U.S. News. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  7. ↑ "Slovak president approves new cabinet". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  8. ↑ "Slovakia MPs okay cabinet despite calls for snap polls". The Sun Daily. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  9. ↑ Hovet, Jason (4 April 2019). "Slovak PM to head finance ministry temporarily after Kazimir leaves". Reuters.
  10. ↑ Hajčáková, Daniela (17 December 2019). "Čaputová prijala Kalavskej demisiu, ministerstvo povedie Pellegrini". SME.sk.
  11. ↑ "Anti-corruption party wins Slovakia election". BBC News. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  12. ↑ "Slovakia election: seismic shift as public anger ousts dominant Smer-SD party". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 1 March 2020. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  13. ↑ "Slovakia's anti-corruption opposition party wins election". Euronews. 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  14. ↑ Mortkowitz, Siegfried (29 February 2020). "Anti-corruption opposition wins Slovakia election". POLITICO. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  15. ↑ Zubkova, Dasha (16 March 2020). "Ukraine Was Ready To Sell Slovakia 2 Million Medical Face Masks, But Order Was Cut Off – Prime Minister Of Slovakia Pellegrini". Ukrainian News.
  16. ↑ "Pellegriniho zvolili za predsedu NR SR. O obštrukciu sa postaral Matovič, v rozprave mu tvrdo vynadal". Pravda.sk (in Slovak). 25 October 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  17. ↑ "Deputy prime minister for investments: Peter Pellegrini (Smer)". Petit Press a.s. 22 March 2016.
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