Andrej Danko (born 12 August 1974) is a Slovak politician who was the speaker of the
National Council of the Slovak Republic
The National Council of the Slovak Republic (, abbreviated to ''NR SR'') is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameralism, unicameral and consists of 150 members, who are elected by universal suffrage under proportional representation ...
from 2016 to 2020 and Chairman of the
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
Slovak National Party
The Slovak National Party (, SNS) is an ultranationalist political party in Slovakia. The party characterizes itself as a nationalist party based on both social and European Christian values.
Since 1990 SNS has won seats in every Slovak pa ...
since 2012.
Early life
Born in Revúca, Danko studied at the Faculty of Law at Comenius University in
Bratislava
Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
.
Career
After compulsory military service, Danko founded several commercial companies and worked as an independent lawyer.
Between 2006 and 2010, Danko was an assistant in the
National Council of Slovakia
The National Council of the Slovak Republic (, abbreviated to ''NR SR'') is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameral and consists of 150 members, who are elected by universal suffrage under proportional representation with seats dis ...
and a member of several parliamentary commissions. He became first vice-president of the
Slovak National Party
The Slovak National Party (, SNS) is an ultranationalist political party in Slovakia. The party characterizes itself as a nationalist party based on both social and European Christian values.
Since 1990 SNS has won seats in every Slovak pa ...
in 2010. In 2012, he became the chairman of the party after getting support from many of the party's members, succeeding
Ján Slota
Ján Slota (born 14 September 1953) is the co-founder and former president of the Slovak National Party,
On 23 March 2016, Danko was elected Speaker of the National Council. He later called for the burqa to be
banned
A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meaning ...
in Slovakia. In 2017, he made an official visit to Russia and gave a speech to the
State Duma
The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...
neo-nazi
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
People's Party Our Slovakia
Kotlebists – People's Party Our Slovakia (, ĽSNS) is a far-right, neo-Nazi political party in Slovakia. The party claims to derive its origin from the legacy of Andrej Hlinka and Jozef Tiso.
Positioned on the far-right of the political spect ...
(including Tomáš Taraba, who became a government minister). Other MPs were moderators of a disinformation internet television.
In 2024, Danko advocated a ban on education on
gender identity
Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...
and
sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...
in Slovak schools.
Promotion to the rank of Captain in Reserve
In September 2016, while in his position as the Speaker of the Parliament, Danko was promoted by eight ranks (from OR-4 to O-2), to Captain in Reserve of the Slovak Army, by Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš. The promotion was viewed by as a sign of corrupt government as a promotion by eight ranks has never happened in the history of
Slovak Army
The Slovak Ground Forces (), also known as the Slovak Army, are the land forces of the Slovak Armed Forces.
Organization
* Ground Forces Command, in Trenčín
** 71st Command Support Battalion, in Trenčín
** 103rd Nuclear, Biological and Ch ...
, not at all to someone who has only joined mandatory national service for the period of one year. On 29 April 2020, Minister of Defence
Jaroslav Naď
Jaroslav Naď (born 21 March 1981) is a Slovak politician who served as Minister of Defence between March 2020 and May 2023, as a nominee of OĽaNO. He specialises in national security issues and previously worked with Globsec. Naď currently ...
canceled his rank.
Plagiarism allegations
In 2018, Danko was accused of plagiarism of his doctoral
thesis
A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...
at
Matej Bel University
Matej Bel University (commonly referred as Matej Bel or UMB), () is a public research university in the central Slovak town of Banská Bystrica. The university was established in 1992. It bears the name of Matthias Bel, a Hungarian-Slovak Luthe ...
in 2000. When media showed interest in his thesis, he asked the university to ban public access to it. Following public pressure, Danko removed the ban after one month and the university library allowed the public to see the thesis, but not to take pictures of it. The university set up a commission to review his thesis later that November. According to the conclusion published by the commission in January 2019, the rigorous procedure met valid regulations, but the thesis contains parts that only slightly differ from original sources, most of the thesis is the same to a large extent and it preserves also the structure of sources without proper citation or paraphrasing.
Presidential campaign
Danko was a candidate in the
2024 presidential election
This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world.
*2024 United Nations Security Council election
*2024 national electoral calendar
*2024 local electoral ...
. Previously, he urged Róbert Fico to run for the office, but Fico declined. During his campaign, he criticized his opponent and Speaker of the National Council,
Peter Pellegrini
Peter Pellegrini (; born 6 October 1975) is a Slovak politician who is serving as the sixth president of Slovakia since 2024. He previously served as prime minister of Slovakia from 2018 to 2020.
Pellegrini also served as the Minister of Health, ...
, as a traitor to Fico. Five days before the first round, he dropped out and endorsed
Štefan Harabin
Štefan Harabin (born 4 May 1957) is a former Slovak judge and politician. He served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Slovakia for two terms (1998–2003 and 2009–2014) and Minister of Justice from 2006 to 2009. In 2019 and 2024 he ra ...
.
Personal life
Danko lost his driver's license on Wednesday, 17 January 2024. This happened six days after a traffic accident in which he damaged a traffic light column in Bratislava's Dúbravka at the intersection of Saratovská and Repašská streets. He told JOJ 24 that he ran away from the scene of the accident, which happened at 11:21 p.m., before the police could arrive. He justified his action with the words "...because I can't write a report with a column". He underwent a breath test only 15 hours later the accident. Besides losing his driver's license, had to pay 900 € and voluntarily cleaned surrounding area for 2 hours.