Jaroslav Naď

Jaroslav Naď (born 21 March 1981, Nitra, Czecho-Slovakia) is a Slovak politician, who has served as Minister of Defence since March 2020, as a nominee of OĽaNO.[1] He specialises in national security issues.[2] He previously worked with Globsec.[3]

Jaroslav Naď
Minister of Defence
Assumed office
21 March 2020
PresidentZuzana Čaputová
Prime MinisterIgor Matovič
Eduard Heger
Preceded byPeter Gajdoš
Personal details
Born (1981-03-21) 21 March 1981
Nitra, Czecho-Slovakia
(now Slovakia)
Political partyCurrent: Democrats (2023–present)
Previous: OĽaNO (2018–2023)
SMER-SD (2000–?)
SpouseKatarína Beláková (divorced)
Children3
EducationArmed Forces Academy
Matej Bel University

Early life

Jaroslav Naď graduated in Political Science at the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica in 2007 and received further training at the European Security and Defence College in Brussels. Between 2004 and 2011, Naď worked in various role at the Slovak Ministry of Defense. Later, he was active as a diplomat at the NATO headquarters and with Slovak security think tanks GLOBSEC and the Slovak Security Institute. In 2018, he obtained his PhD from the Armed Forces Academy of General Milan Rastislav Štefánik.[4]

Political career
Naď at a press conference with the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in March 2022 in Bratislava.

In 2000, he shortly joined the Direction – Slovak Social Democracy party.[5] In 2023, Robert Fico had claimed that Naď had requested a regional political position from Fico and partisan leadership. Following the denial, Fico alleged, that Naď had departed from the party.[6]

In 2018, he became a member of Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽANO) running for the party in the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election. After the electoral victory of OĽANO, Naď became the Minister of Defence.[1]

Controversy

Allegations of nepotism

Naď was linked with accusations of nepotism, when his partner Barbora Túrosová was assigned as the spokeswoman of the Ministry of Interior. She denied the allegations, referring to her long-term journalism career in TA3. Naď was previously linked with nepotism back in 2014, when his brother René was appointed as the Permanent Representation of the Slovak Republic to NATO in Brussels, while Naď was one of the officers at the Ministry of Defence. No verdicts were declared in either of the cases.[7]

References
  1. "Nie Grendel, ministrom vnútra bude Mikulec. Matovič predstavil svoju vládu". slovensko.hnonline.sk (in Slovak). Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  2. "Slovakia Signs €1.6-bn Deal on Purchase of 14 New F-16 Fighter Jets". TASR. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  3. "Jaroslav Naď". Ministerstvo obrany SR. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  4. "Jaroslav Naď - minister obrany". SME (in Slovak). Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  5. Šnídl, Vladimír (27 November 2018). "Analytik Naď ide k Matovičovi: S Hrnkom sme mali dohodu o neútočení, on ju porušil". Denník N (in Slovak). Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  6. "Robert Fico: Idem do kampane, v ktorej ma chcú zatvoriť". Štandard (in Slovak). Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  7. "Novou hovorkyňou rezortu vnútra bude priateľka ministra obrany Jaroslava Naďa. Rodinkárstvo odmieta". Denník S. Retrieved 2020-05-07.


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