Mikuláš Dzurinda, Slovak politician, Prime Minister of Slovakia
Mikuláš Dzurinda (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈmikulaːʐ ˈdzurinda] (listen); born 4 February 1956) is a Slovak politician who was the prime minister of Slovakia from 30 October 1998 to 4 July 2006. He is the founder and leader of the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) and then the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union. From 2002 to 2006, his party formed a coalition government with the Christian Democratic Movement, the Alliance of the New Citizen and the Party of the Hungarian Coalition. Mikuláš Dzurinda's 2nd government was labelled as a reformist one, pro-market and most effective one in economic matters in Slovakia since 1993. Carried out reforms included flat tax 19%, pension reform (second pillar), education financing reform (except colleges and universities). During his term Slovakia joined both the European Union and NATO.
Dzurinda later served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in Prime Minister Iveta Radičová's coalition government from 2010 to 2012. On 3 December 2013, Dzurinda was elected as President of the Martens Centre, the think-tank of the European People's Party.