About Mikuláš Dzurinda
Mikuláš Dzurinda (born 4 February 1955) is a Slovak politician who was the prime minister of Slovakia from 30 October 1998 to 4 July 2006. Dzurinda is the founder and leader of the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) and then the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ–DS). From 2002 to 2006, his party formed a coalition government with the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), the Alliance of the New Citizen (ANO), and the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK–MKP). Dzurinda's second government was labeled as a reformist and pro-market. Reforms included a flat tax of 19%, pension reform (second pillar), and education financing reform (except colleges and universities). During his term, Slovakia joined both the European Union and NATO. Dzurinda later served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in Prime Minister Iveta Radičová's coalition government from 2010 to 2012. On 3 December 2013, Dzurinda was elected as President of the Martens Centre, the think tank of the European People's Party. In 1988, he completed his post-graduate scientific research there and was awarded with a Candidate of Sciences (CSc.) degree. The first democratic general election in Czechoslovakia was held in 1990, and he was appointed Deputy Minister of Transportation and Posts of the Slovak Government in 1991. Following the 1994 general election, won by Vladimír Mečiar, he returned to the opposition as a member of the parliament. Dzurinda became its spokesman, and later, on 4 July 1998, its chairman.
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