Miroslav Jureňa (born 17 June 1954) is a Slovak politician. From 2006 to 2007 he served as the Minister of Agriculture of Slovakia.

Biography

Jureňa was born on 17 June 1954 in

Skalica Skalica (, , Latin: ''Sakolcium'') is the largest town in Skalica District in western Slovakia in the Záhorie region. Located near the Czech Republic, Czech border, Skalica has a population of around 15,000. Etymology The name is derived from Slo ...

in a farming family. He grew up in

Gbely Gbely (German and Hungarian: ''Egbell'') is a town in the Skalica District, Trnava Region in western Slovakia, close to the Czech border. History The first written record about Gbely was in 1392. It gained town rights in the 16th–17th centuri ...

, playing in the local football team. In 1977 he graduated from the

Slovak University of Agriculture Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra is a public university in Nitra, Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary ...

. Following his graduation until 1990 he was the head of

agricultural cooperative An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a producer cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activities. A broad typology of agricultural cooperatives distinguishes between agricultural servic ...

in Gbely as well as a member of the town council. Until the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

, he was a member of the

Communist Party of Czechoslovakia The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Com ...

. After the privatization of the agricultural cooperatives in Slovakia, Jureňa became an agricultural manager in the private sector.

Political career

Following the independence of Slovakia, Jureňa became active in the

Peasants' Party of Slovakia The Peasants' Party of Slovakia (''Roľnícka strana Slovenska'', RSS) was a political party in Slovakia from 1990 to 1997. It was established after the Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent tra ...

, a junior ally of the ruling

Movement for a Democratic Slovakia Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger co ...

(HZDS). In 1998 the Peasants' Party merged into the HZDS. Jureňa's position within the party strengthened in 2005, when

Miroslav Maxon Miroslav may refer to: * Miroslav (given name), a Slavic masculine given name * ''Young America'' (clipper) or ''Miroslav'', an Austrian clipper ship in the Transatlantic case oil trade * Miroslav (Znojmo District), a town in the Czech Republic S ...

, the chief agriculture expert of the party, left over disagreements with the party leadership. Maxon's departure allowed Jureňa to take his place and became the party's leading agriculture expert and, following the

2006 Slovak parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 17 June 2006. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1747 Direction – Social Democracy emerged as the largest party in the National Council, winning 50 of the ...

, the Minister of Agriculture. In November 2007, Jureňa was asked by the Prime Minister

Robert Fico Robert Fico (; born 15 September 1964) is a Slovak politician who has served as the prime minister of Slovakia since 2023. He previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. He founded the left-wing political party D ...

to resign over corruption allegations. Jureňa organized his final press conference in a cowshed in

Vajnory Vajnory is a small borough in the northeast of Bratislava, Slovakia. Milan Rastislav Štefánik international airport is located near Vajnory. Another airport - Vajnory Airport, which was the first airport in Slovakia - closed in 2006. Histor ...

. He justified the choice of venue by the example of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

, who was famously born in the

manger __NOTOC__ A manger or trough is a rack for fodder, or a structure or feeder used to hold food for animals. The word comes from the Old French ''mangier'' (meaning "to eat"), from Latin ''mandere'' (meaning "to chew"). Mangers are mostly used in ...

. Building up on the Biblical theme, he compared Fico to the

Pharisee The Pharisees (; ) were a Jews, Jewish social movement and school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70), destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became ...

from the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke is the third of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascension of ...

. The press conference primarily focused on Jureňa listing corruption allegations against other cabinet members and questioning why they weren't punished when he was. Following his dismissal from the government, Jureňa served as a Deputy of 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 ...

until 2010. Following the failure of HZDS to reach the representation threshold in the

2010 Slovak parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 12 June 2010. The elections were contested by eighteen parties, six of which passed the 5% threshold for sitting in parliament. Despite the incumbent Smer of Prime Minister Robert Fico winning a ...

, Jureňa left HZDS and joined 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 ...

(SNS). In 2024, Jureňa became the head of campaign of

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 ...

for the

2004 Slovak presidential election Presidential elections were held in Slovakia on 3 April 2004, with a second round on 17 April.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1747 Although former Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar received the mos ...

. Following the elimination of Harabin in the first round, Jureňa issued a press release supporting

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, ...

in the runoff. Immediately after the information became public, Harabin denied supporting Pellegrini. According to Harabin, Jureňa acted on his own and was fired as a result of issuing an incorrect statement.

Personal life

Jureňa is married with one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jurena, Miroslav 1954 births Living people People from Skalica Agriculture ministers of Slovakia Slovak National Party politicians People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia politicians Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politicians Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2006-2010