Peter Pellegrini

Peter Pellegrini (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈpɛtɛr ˈpɛlːɛɡriɲi]; born 6 October 1975) is a Slovak politician who has served as 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 was a member of Direction – Social Democracy until he left the party and founded Voice – Social Democracy in late June 2020.

Peter Pellegrini
Prime Minister of Slovakia
In office 22 March 2018 – 20 March 2020
President	Andrej Kiska Zuzana Čaputová
Preceded by	Robert Fico
Succeeded by	Igor Matovič
Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia
In office 23 March 2016 – 22 March 2018
Prime Minister	Robert Fico
Preceded by	Ľubomír Vážny
Succeeded by	Richard Raši
Speaker of the National Council
In office 25 November 2014 – 23 March 2016
Preceded by	Pavol Paška
Succeeded by	Andrej Danko
Minister for Education and Science
In office 3 July 2014 – 25 November 2014
Prime Minister	Robert Fico
Preceded by	Dušan Čaplovič
Succeeded by	Juraj Draxler
Personal details
Born	(1975-10-06) 6 October 1975 Banská Bystrica, Slovak SR, Czechoslovak SR (now Slovakia)
Political party	Voice – Social Democracy (2020–) Direction – Social Democracy (2000–2020)
Alma mater	Matej Bel University, Technical University of Košice

Education and private career

Pellegrini's great-grandfather was Italian. He 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.[2][1]

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]

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 President Donald Trump at the White House

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]

Pellegrini's meeting with Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin on 26 February 2020

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]

Personal life

Pellegrini has Italian roots.[16] His great-grandfather Leopoldo Pellegrini came to the Austro-Hungarian Empire to participate in the construction of the railway between Levice and Zvolen. He then decided to settle in Lehôtka pod Brehmi, in the district of Žiar nad Hronom, after falling in love with a local girl, Maria Kunovská.[17][18]

References

1. "Panellist - Peter Pellegrini". Globsec. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
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. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
6. U.S. News. "Reshuffled Slovak Cabinet Takes Office, Easing Crisis After Journalist's Murder". Retrieved 30 March 2018.
7. Financial Times. "Slovak president approves new cabinet". Retrieved 30 March 2018.
8. The Sun Daily. "Slovakia MPs okay cabinet despite calls for snap polls". Retrieved 30 March 2018.
9. Jason Hovet (4 April 2019), Slovak PM to head finance ministry temporarily after Kazimir leaves Reuters.
10. Daniela Hajčáková (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. France-Presse, Agence (1 March 2020). "Slovakia election: seismic shift as public anger ousts dominant Smer-SD party". The Guardian. 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. a.s., Petit Press (22 March 2016). "Deputy prime minister for investments: Peter Pellegrini (Smer)".
17. "Pellegrini – profil nového slovenského premiéra v 10 bodech - Reflex.cz".
18. "Chi è il nuovo primo ministro incaricato Peter Pellegrini". 19 March 2018.

Political offices
Preceded by Dušan Čaplovič	Minister for Education and Science 2014	Succeeded by Juraj Draxler
Preceded by Pavol Paška	Speaker of the National Council 2014–2016	Succeeded by Andrej Danko
Preceded by Ľubomír Vážny	Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia 2016–2018	Succeeded by Richard Raši
Preceded by Robert Fico	Prime Minister of Slovakia 2018–2020	Succeeded by Igor Matovič