Robert Kaliňák

Robert Kaliňák (born 11 May 1971) is a Slovak politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Minister of Defence in the Fourth cabinet of Robert Fico since 25 October 2023.

Kaliňák previously served as Minister of the Interior from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018. He is the longest serving minister in the history of modern Slovakia. He is a member of the Direction – Social Democracy party. On 31 December 2018, Kaliňák resigned his seat in the National Council, effectively retiring from politics until the 2023 parliamentary election.

Early life and education Kaliňák was born on 11 May 1971 in Bratislava. His father was a sailor and his mother, who originated from the Bulgarian minority in Odesa, worked as a teacher. Kaliňák's brother Milan is a member of the Taktici rock band, with whom Robert also played occasionally in the past.

Whilst studying, Kaliňák successfully entered the world of entrepreneurship in 1990 by opening a student restaurant, a publishing house and printing office of scholarly literature. During his studies, he also started his career in a law office in 1992. Kaliňák and his partners established a chain of restaurants called Steam & Coffee in 1999, while he engaged also in other lines of business. After entering politics, he retired as an executive from all business activities.

Political career Whilst Kaliňák was holding the post of Minister of Interior, he faced several criticisms from the side of opposition regarding his purchase of shares from shareholder, who was later investigated for tax fraud. Kaliňák resigned as an interior minister as well as the PM deputy on 22 March 2018 after the murder of an investigative reporter Ján Kuciak.

In September 2025, Kalinak was fined by the parliamentary conflict of interest committee for deliberately omitting his family's vacation villa on the island of Pag in Croatia from his asset disclosure. He was criticized for defending his decision to conceal the property and for the perceived double standard.