Denisa Saková (born 17 April 1976) is a Slovak politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Minister of Economy in the Fourth cabinet of Robert Fico since 25 October 2023. Saková previously served in the Cabinet of Peter Pellegrini as Minister of Interior from 2018 to 2020. Since 2020, she has served as deputy leader of

Voice – Social Democracy Voice – Social Democracy (, Hlas-SD) is a social democratic and populist political party in Slovakia. It was founded in 2020 by dissidents from Direction – Social Democracy (Smer-SD) led by former prime minister Peter Pellegrini. In October ...

(Hlas), being part of a group of dissidents from

Direction – Social Democracy Direction – Social Democracy (, Smer–SD), also commonly referred to as Smer, is a left-wing nationalism, left-wing nationalist and left-wing populism, left-wing populist political party in Slovakia led by the incumbent Prime Minister of Slov ...

Early life and education

Saková was born on 17 April 1976 in

Nitra Nitra (; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra (river), Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of ...

. She studied

Engineering management Engineering management is the application of engineering methods, tools, and techniques to business management systems. Engineering management is a career that brings together the technological problem-solving ability of engineering and the organi ...

University of Economics in Bratislava The Bratislava University of Economics and Business () is the oldest university of economics in Slovakia. History The university was established in 1940 as a private university under the name Vysoká obchodná škola v Bratislave (College of Co ...

. She subsequently worked in consulting, in particular in the ICT industry. In 2006 she obtained her PhD from the University of Economics in Bratislava. In 2007, Saková briefly acted as the director of the IT department at the ministry of interior affairs, before returning to the prime sector

Political career

In 2016, Saková joined the

party and she became the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Interior under Minister

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

, who was her political mentor. Following the resignation of Kaliňák due to the

Murder of Ján Kuciak Ján Kuciak (17 May 1990 – 21 February 2018) was a Slovak Investigative journalism, investigative journalist. Kuciak worked as a reporter for the news website Aktuality.sk and focused mainly on investigating tax fraud of several businessmen wi ...

in 2018, she took over the ministry. Prior the

2020 Slovak parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 29 February 2020 to elect all 150 members of the National Council. The populist Ordinary People and Independent Personalities–NOVA–Christian Union–Change from Below (OĽaNO–NOVA–KÚ� ...

, Saková criticized the participation of Slovaks living abroad on the election, sparking fears of her potentially using her office to complicate voting from abroad. After the election, she was among a large group of Direction MPs, who split from the party and started the new

. Saková became the minister of economy after the

2023 Slovak parliamentary election Early parliamentary elections were held in the Slovakia, Slovak Republic on 30 September 2023 to elect members of the National Council (Slovakia), National Council. Regular elections were scheduled to be held in 2024. However, on 15 December 202 ...

. Immediately after the election, she claimed Ukraine should give up its territory to end the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saková, Denisa 1976 births Living people Politicians from Nitra Direction – Social Democracy politicians Voice – Social Democracy politicians Deputy prime ministers of Slovakia Economy ministers of Slovakia Interior ministers of Slovakia Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2020–2023 Female interior ministers Women government ministers of Slovakia Women members of the National Council (Slovakia) 21st-century Slovak women politicians University of Economics in Bratislava alumni