Michal Kováč


Michal Kováč was the first president of Slovakia, having served from 1993 through 1998.

Early life

Kováč was born in the village of Ľubiša in then Czechoslovakia in 1929. He graduated from the present-day University of Economics in Bratislava and was a bank employee of the Státní banka československá and of other banks. As such, he spent some years in London and in Cuba in the 1960s. During Normalization he was subjected to some persecution.

Political career

During and after the Velvet Revolution, from 12 December 1989 to 17 May 1991 Kováč was the Finance Minister of the Slovak (Socialist) Republic.
In early 1991, he was one of the founders and the vice-chairman of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. As such, he was elected as a deputy to the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia in 1990. After the 1992 election he served as the Chairman of the Federal Assembly from 25 June to 31 December 1992. He played an important role in the process of the preparation of the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia.

President (1993–1998)

Kováč was elected president by the National Council of Slovakia in February 1993 and inaugurated on 2 March 1993. He soon became a strong opponent of Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar and by giving a critical presidential address to parliament in March 1994, Kováč significantly contributed to the deposition of the then Mečiar government and the creation of the Moravčík government.
In 1995 the Mečiar-Kováč conflict intensified and the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia cancelled Kováč's membership in the party. In August 1995 Kováč's son, who had been accused of financial crimes by German authorities, was kidnapped and taken to Austria. The president, opposition parties and Austrian court accused the Slovak intelligence service (SIS) and the government of having organized the kidnapping. The investigation of new secret intelligence service director Mitro and Slovak police after collapse of Mečiar's regime in the end of 1998 confirmed the participation of the SIS in the abduction, but Slovak courts rejected the trial of its suspected actors because of an amnesty issued by Mečiar on 3 March 1998. This amnesty was revoked in 2017 and in a case over a potential European Arrest Warrant, the European Court of Justice was asked to rule on the legality of the proceedings against the suspected kidnappers.
Kováč's term ended on 2 March 1998. His candidature in the first direct 1999 Slovak presidential election was unsuccessful. He mostly withdrew from politics afterwards and appeared only at a few symbolic events.

Health and death

In 2008, Kováč stated in an interview with Slovak media outlet Plus 7 dní that he suffered Parkinson's disease. On 5 October 2016, he died from complications of said disease in Bratislava at the age of 86.

Honours