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by | Dec 1, 2017

Peter Kmec (born 11 November 1966) is a Slovak diplomat and politician who has served as the Deputy Prime Minister for European Funding of Slovakia since 2023.

Early life

Kmec was born on 11 November 1966 in Nitra.[1] Between 1985 and 1990, he studied at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.[2] Kmec was the ambassador of Slovakia to Sweden from 2007 until 2012, later the United States from 2012 until 2018.[3][4]

Political career

In 2020, Kmec was elected as an MP of the National Council of Slovakia on the list of Direction – Social Democracy.[5] Soon after the election, he joined the Voice – Social Democracy party, which split from Smer.[6]

As a member of Voice, Kmec served as the main foreign policy expert, until a video was published by a Smer activist showing Kmec agreeing with government foreign policy experts in the need for pro-Western focus of Slovak politics. The video was used by Smer to accuse Voice of planning to form government with liberal parties, rather than pro-Russian Smer after the 2023 Slovak parliamentary election. As a result, Kmec lost his position as the Voice foreign policy expert.[7] Following the election, Kmec became deputy prime minister as well as Minister of European Union Subsidies and the Recovery Plan in Fico's Fourth Cabinet.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Peter Kmec | vicepremiér pre plán obnovy". Sme (in Slovak). Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Kancelária podpredsedu vlády SR | Plán obnovy". www.planobnovy.sk. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Švédsko: Slovenský veľvyslanec Peter Kmec sa ujal funkcie" (in Slovak). Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Bývalí veľvyslanci". MZV.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Voľby 2020: Toto sú zvolení poslanci za Smer-SD". Hospodárske noviny (in Slovak). 1 March 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Poslanci okolo Pellegriniho nebudú mať vlastný klub v parlamente". Aktuality.sk (in Slovak). 22 September 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  7. ^ Mikušovič, Dušan (17 April 2023). "V Hlase sa zľakli videa mládežníčky zo Smeru a odstavili svojho experta na zahraničnú politiku Kmeca". Denník N (in Slovak). Retrieved 23 May 2024.