Editing Vladimír Mečiar

{{short description|Prime Minister of Slovakia (1990–1991; 1992–1994; 1994–1998)}}
{{BLP sources|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name           = Vladimír Mečiar
| image          = Vladimir meciar.jpg
| caption        = Mečiar in 2004
| office         = [[Prime Minister of Slovakia]]
| president      = [[Michal Kováč]]
| term_start     = 13 December 1994
| term_end       = 30 October 1998
| predecessor    = [[Jozef Moravčík]]
| successor      = [[Mikuláš Dzurinda]]
| president2     = Michal Kováč
| term_start2    = 24 June 1992
| term_end2      = 16 March 1994
| predecessor2   = [[Ján Čarnogurský]]
| successor2     = [[Jozef Moravčík]]
| term_start3    = 27 June 1990
| term_end3      = 6 May 1991
| predecessor3   = [[Milan Čič]]
| successor3     = Ján Čarnogurský
| office4        = [[President of Slovakia]]
| term_label4    = Acting
| alongside4     = [[Ivan Gašparovič]]
| term_start4    = 2 March 1998
| term_end4      = 30 October 1998
| predecessor4   = Michal Kováč
| successor4     = Mikuláš Dzurinda (acting)<br />[[Jozef Migaš]] (acting)
| term_label5    = Acting
| term_start5    = 1 January 1993
| term_end5      = 2 March 1993
| predecessor5   = ''Position established''
| successor5     = Michal Kováč
| office6        = Minister of the Interior
| primeminister6 = Milan Čič
| term_start6    = 11 January 1990
| term_end6      = 27 June 1990
| predecessor6   = Milan Čič
| successor6     = [[Anton Andráš]]
| office7        = [[National Council of the Slovak Republic|Member of the National Council]]
| term_start7    = 15 October 2002
| term_end7      = 12 June 2010
| term_start8    = 16 March 1994
| term_end8      = 13 December 1994
| birth_date     = {{birth date and age|1942|7|26|df=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Zvolen]], [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovakia]]
| death_date     = 
| death_place    = 
| party          = [[Communist Party of Slovakia (1939)|KSS]] (before 1970)<br />[[Independent (politician)|Independent]] (1970–1989)<br />[[Public Against Violence|VPN]] (1989–1991)<br />[[People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia|HZDS]] (1991–2014)
| spouse         = Margita Mečiarová
| alma_mater     = [[Comenius University in Bratislava]]
}}
'''Vladimír Mečiar''' ({{IPA|sk|ˈʋlaɟimiːr ˈmetʂɪɐr}}; born 26 July 1942) is a Slovak former politician who served as the [[prime minister of Slovakia]] from June 1990 to May 1991, June 1992 to March 1994, and again from December 1994 to October 1998. He was the leader of the [[Movement for a Democratic Slovakia]] (HZDS), a [[populist]] party in Slovakia.

Mečiar led Slovakia during the dissolution of [[Czechoslovakia]] in 1992&ndash;93 and was one of the leading presidential candidates in Slovakia in 1999 and 2004. During his time in office, he was criticized for his [[autocratic]] style of governance and connections to [[organized crime]], which became known as ''Mečiarizmus'' ("Mečiarism").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Filep |first=Béla |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/960041065 |title=The politics of good neighbourhood : state, civil society and the enhancement of cultural capital in East Central Europe |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=978-1-317-02044-8 |location=London |pages=36 |oclc=960041065}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46777394 |title=Journeys through conflict : narratives and lessons |date=2001 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |others=Hayward R. Alker, Ted Robert Gurr, Kumar Rupesinghe |isbn=0-7425-1027-1 |location=Lanham, Md. |pages=159 |oclc=46777394}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith-Cannoy |first=Heather M. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/797834608 |title=Insincere commitments : human rights treaties, abusive states, and citizen activism |date=2012 |publisher=Georgetown University Press |isbn=978-1-58901-896-9 |location=Washington D.C. |pages=98 |oclc=797834608}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Mečiar was born in [[Detva]] in 1942 as the eldest of four boys. His father was a tailor, and his mother was a housewife.

== Career ==

=== Early period ===
Starting in the [[Communist Party of Slovakia (1939)|Communist Party of Slovakia]], the only road to prominence in [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Communist Czechoslovakia]], he became committee chairman in the town of [[Žiar nad Hronom]], only to be dismissed in the year after the 1968 [[Warsaw Pact]] invasion of [[Czechoslovakia]], when he delivered a pro-reform speech to the national congress in 1969 and was thrown out. A year later he was also expelled from the Communist Party and then added to the Communist Party Central Committee's long list of enemies of the [[socialist]] regime. He put himself through the Faculty of Law of the [[Comenius University]] while working in a glass factory.

=== Velvet Revolution ===
In late 1989, during the fast-paced anti-Communist [[Velvet Revolution]], he joined the new political party, [[Public Against Violence]] (Verejnosť proti násiliu, VPN), which was the Slovak counterpart to the better-known Czech [[Civic Forum]]. On 11 January 1990, when the VPN was looking for professionals to participate in the government of Slovakia, Mečiar was appointed as Minister of the Interior and Environment of Slovakia on a recommendation of [[Alexander Dubček]], who was impressed by Mečiar's thorough knowledge in all relevant fields.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://dennikn.sk/833687/vladimir-meciar-ma-75-rokov-toto-je-desat-prihod-z-jeho-zivota-ktore-by-ste-mali-poznat/|title=Vladimír Mečiar má 75 rokov. Toto je desať príhod z jeho života, ktoré by ste mali poznať|last=Mikušovič|first=Dušan|work=Denník N|access-date=2018-05-26|language=sk-SK}}</ref>

== Prime minister ==

=== First term ===
After the first democratic elections in Czechoslovakia in June 1990, he was named Slovak prime minister (representing the VPN) of a coalition government of VPN and the [[Christian Democratic Movement]]. He advocated economic reform and continued federation with the Czechs.

In 1990 the political landscape of the [[Czech Republic]] and [[Slovakia]] started to develop and many new political parties were formed, mainly from the Civic Forum and the VPN. By the end of 1990, some of Mečiar's partners in the VPN began distancing themselves from him. First, the party split into two fractions in early March 1991: Mečiar supporters (mostly members of his cabinet) and Mečiar opponents (led by the VPN chairman [[Fedor Gál]]). On 23 April 1991, the Presidium of the Slovak parliament ([[National Council of the Slovak Republic|Slovak National Council]]) deposed him as premier of Slovakia and he was replaced by [[Ján Čarnogurský]], the leader of the Christian Democratic Movement. Three days later, the VPN officially split in two: the [[Movement for a Democratic Slovakia]] (HZDS) and the remaining VPN (since October 1991 called ODÚ-VPN, later just [[Civic Democratic Union (Slovakia)|ODÚ]]). Mečiar was elected HZDS chairman in June 1991.

=== Second term ===
[[File:Vladimír_Mečiar_and_Jacques_Delors.png|thumb|Mečiar meeting with [[Jacques Delors]], president of the [[European Commission]] (1993)]]
In 1991 and 1992, there were frequent, but fruitless, negotiations between the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic concerning the future relations between the two constituent republics of Czechoslovakia.  The winners of the June 1992 elections in Czechoslovakia and new prime ministers were the [[Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)|Civic Democratic Party]] led by [[Václav Klaus]] in the Czech Republic and the HZDS led by Vladimír Mečiar in Slovakia. Before and shortly after this election, the HZDS supported the creation of a looser federation—a confederation—between the two republics.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://domov.sme.sk/c/768478/chronologia-rozdelenia-ceskej-a-slovenskej-federativnej-republiky-3-cast.html|title=Chronológia rozdelenia Českej a Slovenskej Federatívnej Republiky (3. časť)|publisher=Petit Press a.s.|website=domov.sme.sk|access-date=2018-05-26|language=sk}}</ref> However, its Czech counterpart wanted an even more centralized Czechoslovakia than was the case in 1992 or two separate countries.{{Citation needed|date=April 2007}} Since these two concepts were irreconcilable, Mečiar and Klaus agreed (after intense negotiations, but without having consulted the population in a referendum) on 23 July in [[Bratislava]] to dissolve Czechoslovakia and to create two independent states. As a result, Mečiar and Klaus became the prime ministers of two independent states on 1 January 1993. Mečiar also opposed the free-market [[Shock therapy (economics)|shock therapy]] proposed by Prague and Klaus' party to all of Czechoslovakia.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/01/world/czechoslovakia-breaks-in-two-to-wide-regret.html?pagewanted=all|title=Czechoslovakia Breaks in Two, To Wide Regret|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=1 January 1993}}</ref>

After eight members of the parliament left the HZDS in March 1993, Mečiar lost his parliamentary majority. At the same time Mečiar's HZDS also lost the support of the president, [[Michal Kováč]], who was originally nominated by the HZDS. However, it was only in March 1994 that he was unseated as prime minister by the parliament ([[National Council of the Slovak Republic]]) and the opposition parties created a new government under [[Jozef Moravčík]]'s lead. However, after the elections held at the turn of September and October 1994, in which his HZDS won 35% of the votes, he became prime minister again — in a coalition with the far-right [[Slovak National Party]] headed by the controversial [[Ján Slota]], and the radical-left [[Združenie robotníkov Slovenska]] headed by the colourful [[Ján Ľupták]], a mason.

=== Third term ===
During the following period, he was constantly criticized by his opponents and Western countries for an [[autocratic]] style of administration, lack of respect for democracy, misuse of state media for propaganda, corruption and the shady privatization of national companies that occurred during his rule. Privatization during the 1990s in both Slovakia and the Czech Republic was harmed by widespread unlawful [[asset stripping]] (also described by the journalistic term of ''tunnelling'').

At the same time relations between Mečiar and the President of Slovakia, [[Michal Kováč]] were rather strained. He was also blamed for having engaged the [[Slovenská informačná služba|Slovak secret service]] (SIS) in the [[Crime in Slovakia|abduction]] of the President's son [[Michal Kováč, Jr.]] — wanted on a warrant for a financial crime in Germany — to [[Hainburg, Austria]], in August 1995, but his guilt has not been proven.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/did-slovak-pm-plan-kidnapping-of-presidents-son-1600357.html|title = Did Slovak PM plan kidnapping of President's son?|website = [[Independent.co.uk]]|date = 22 October 2011}}</ref> However, after Kovač's term expired in March 1998 the Slovak parliament was unable to elect a successor, so Mečiar also temporarily assumed the role of acting president. As president, he issued an amnesty for some of those accused of the abduction. As a result, Slovakia under his rule became partially isolated from the West and the pace of [[European Union|EU]] and [[NATO]] accession negotiations was much slower than in the case of neighboring countries, although Mečiar supported both EU and NATO memberships for his country and submitted Slovakia's applications to both organisations.

Mečiar and HZDS narrowly finished first in the 1998 elections, with 27% of the votes.  However, he was unable to create a coalition, and [[Mikuláš Dzurinda]] from the opposition became the new Prime Minister. Afterwards, Mečiar was one of the two leading candidates for the first direct election of the president of Slovakia in 1999, but he was defeated by [[Rudolf Schuster]]. In 2000, Mečiar's HZDS was renamed "People's Party — Movement for a Democratic Slovakia".

== Post-premiership ==
In 2000 Mečiar ostensibly gave up his political ambitions. His HZDS colleague [[Augustín Marián Húska]] said: "The NATO-War against Yugoslavia in 1999 was also a signal to us, to not pursue any vision of political independence anymore. We have seen what will happen to forces that want to be independent."<ref>Hofbauer, Hannes: Osterweiterung. Vom Drang nach Osten zur peripheren EU-Integration, Vienna 2003, cited in http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/de/fulltext/56409</ref> In 2000, Mečiar was arrested by Slovak police on charges of fraud dating from his term in office.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/apr/21/9|title = Slovak leader held|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 21 April 2000}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/03/world/arrest-may-end-slovakia-ex-premier-s-influence.html|title = Arrest May End Slovakia Ex-Premier's Influence|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 3 May 2000|last1 = Erlanger|first1 = Steven}}</ref>

Mečiar was heavily favored to win the 2002 election, but it was thought that if he became prime minister again, it would end any chance of Slovakia getting into the EU. The 2002 elections saw the HZDS score a high percentage (20%) again. However, as in 1998, no other party was willing to serve under him.  The result was another term in government for Dzurinda. The lower percentage of Mečiar's HZDS (20%) compared to the 1998 result (27%) was due to internal disputes within the organization shortly before the election, which caused many traditional HZDS members to leave the party. Some of them created the HZD ([[Movement for Democracy (Slovakia)|Movement for Democracy]]) party led by [[Ivan Gašparovič]]. In 2003, further traditional HZDS members left the party and most of them created the [[People's Union (Slovakia)|People's Union]] (Ľudová únia).

In the [[Presidential election in Slovakia 2004|2004 presidential election]], Mečiar tried to become Slovak president again, but was defeated in the second round by his former, long-standing ally Ivan Gašparovič. In the [[2006 Slovak parliamentary election|2006 parliamentary election]] in Slovakia, HZDS had the worst election result in its history, just 8.79%. Mečiar requested an examination of the election results.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/23926/2/| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110214053656/http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/23926/2/| archive-date = 2011-02-14| title = HZDS to ask independent agency to inspect party election results - The Slovak Spectator}} </ref>  While HZDS became part of [[Robert Fico]]'s coalition, Mečiar was not a Cabinet member. He declined to participate in the [[2009 Slovak presidential election|2009 presidential election]] but also denied considering political retirement.

In the [[2010 Slovak parliamentary election|2010 parliamentary election]], Mečiar's HZDS dropped to 4%, leaving it out of [[National Council of the Slovak Republic|parliament]] for the first time in its history. In the 2012 elections, the HZDS saw its vote collapse to 0.93%, leaving it again outside of parliament. Eventually, the party was dissolved in 2014.

== Personal life ==
His wife Margita is a medical doctor, and they have three children.

== See also ==
* [[List of political parties in Slovakia]]
* [[List of presidents of Slovakia]]
* [[List of prime ministers of Slovakia]]
* [[Ivan Lexa]]
* [[Jaroslav Svěchota]]

== References ==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.hzds.sk/?mod=lide&par=meciar-vladimir&menu=34 Official biography]

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{{Vladimír Mečiar}}
{{SlovakPresidents}}
{{SlovakPMs}}
{{Government of Slovakia 1992–94}}
{{Government of Slovakia 1994–98}}
{{Ministers of the Interior in Slovakia}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meciar, Vladimir}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Zvolen]]
[[Category:Slovak communists]]
[[Category:Left-wing populists]]
[[Category:Public Against Violence politicians]]
[[Category:People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia politicians]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of Slovakia]]
[[Category:Comenius University alumni]]
[[Category:Communist Party of Czechoslovakia politicians]]
[[Category:Slovak independence activists]]
[[Category:Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 1998–2002]]
[[Category:Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2002-2006]]
[[Category:Members of the National Council (Slovakia) 2006-2010]]
[[Category:Acting presidents of Slovakia]]