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Michal Šimečka

Slovak politician

Michal Šimečka
Šimečka in 2023
Deputy Speaker of the National Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 October 2023 Serving with Andrej Danko, Tibor Gašpar, Peter Žiga and Ľuboš Blaha
Speaker	Peter Pellegrini Peter Žiga (acting)
Member of the National Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 October 2023
Vice-President of the European Parliament
In office 18 January 2022 – 17 October 2023 Serving with See List
President	Roberta Metsola
Preceded by	Lívia Járóka
Succeeded by	Martin Hojsík
Member of the European Parliament for Slovakia
In office 25 May 2019 – 24 October 2023
Leader of Progressive Slovakia
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 May 2022
Preceded by	Irena Bihariová
Personal details
Born	(1984-05-10) 10 May 1984 (age 40) Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia)
Political party	Progressive Slovakia (2017–present)
Other political affiliations	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (2019–present)
Education	Charles University (BA) St Antony's College, Oxford (MPhil) Nuffield College, Oxford (DPhil)

Michal Šimečka (born 10 May 1984) is a Slovak politician, journalist, and researcher, who served as a Vice-President of the European Parliament between 2022 and 2023, as well as Member of the European Parliament between 2019 and 2023.^[1] In 2020, Šimečka was elected vice-president of the European political group Renew Europe.^[2] He is a co-founder of the social-liberal Progressive Slovakia party, leading it from 2022.

Early life and education[edit]

Šimečka earned a bachelor's degree in political sciences and international relations from the Charles UniversityinPrague in 2006. He obtained an MPhil in Russian and East European Studies at St Antony's College at the University of Oxford in 2008, before moving to Nuffield College, where he received a DPhil in Politics and International Relations in 2012.^[3]

Political career[edit]

Member of the European Parliament, 2019–2023[edit]

Šimečka is a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights^[4] and European Parliament Intergroup on Traditional Minorities, National Communities and Languages.^[5]

During the European Parliament elections in May 2019, Šimečka was the leader of the coalition candidate Progressive Slovakia and Democrats, which won with a profit of 20.11%.^[6] He was elected MEP with 81,735 preferential votes.^[7] Later that November, Šimečka was elected rapporteur on the establishment of an EU Mechanism on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights.^[8]

In October 2020, Šimečka presented his proposal for a mechanism combining several tools which monitor the respect of rule of law and European values, which received majority support in the European Parliament.^[9] He explained that the EU should do more to address the abuse of EU funding, writing that『an implicit bargain between net contributors and net recipients – we pay for market access, you are free to abuse funds』should end.^[10]

From 2020 until 2021, Šimečka served as deputy chair of the Renew Europe parliamentary group, under the leadership of chair Dacian Cioloș.^[11]

Following the 2023 Slovak parliamentary election, Šimečka gave up vice-presidency of the EP to focus on leading the opposition in Slovakia.^[12] He received 92 votes, 29 MPs voted against and 21 abstained.^[13]

LGBT views[edit]

Michal Šimečka supports the LGBT community and supported the Rainbow Ribbon campaign as up to 77% of LGBT+ people do not hold hands in public because they are afraid of being attacked.^[14]

Personal life[edit]

Šimečka is the son of journalists Martin Milan Šimečka and Marta Šimečková (née Frišová).^[15] He lives in Bratislava with his partner Soňa Ferienčíková and their daughter Táňa (b. 2020).^[16]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• European Parliament Profile