Richard Sulík
| Richard Sulík | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
|
Assumed office 24 May 2014 | |
| 5th Speaker of the National Council | |
|
In office 8 July 2010 – 13 October 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Pavol Paška |
| Succeeded by | Pavol Hrušovský |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
12 January 1968 Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) |
| Political party |
Slovak Democratic and Christian Union-Democratic Party (Before 2009) Freedom and Solidarity (2009–present) |
| Alma mater |
University of Munich University of Economics, Bratislava |
Richard Sulík (born 12 January 1968) is a Slovak economist, businessman and politician. He is the leader of the political party Freedom and Solidarity.
Life
Born 1968 in the then Czechoslovakia, Sulík emigrated in 1980 with his parents to then West Germany, where they lived in the city of Pforzheim. In 1987 he went to Munich to study physics and later economics at the Ludwig Maximilian University. When the borders were reopened right after the end of the cold war, Sulík returned in 1991 to Czechoslovakia. While still a student at the University of Economics in Bratislava, he founded and ran the company FaxCOPY.
When he graduated in 2003, Sulík was working as a special advisor of the Slovak Minister of Finance Ivan Miklos, whom he convinced to take his master thesis as a blueprint for the 2004 Slovak tax reform. This tax reform, introducing a 19% flat tax on all types of income and a 19% value added tax, was believed to be the single most important reform leading to the large increase of foreign investment in Slovakia and the economic boom period. After the reform was put through, he remained in the Advisory Board of the Ministry.
Between 2004 and 2006, Sulìk was CEO of a municipal waste disposal company OLO. He then returned as special advisor to the Ministry of Finance under Ján Počiatek in order to further evolve the tax system. In 2009, Sulík founded the political party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) which he leads as Chairman.[1] In 2010 he replaced Pavol Paška as the Speaker of Parliament.[2]
Financial Crisis
On 14 September 2011, Richard Sulik, the President of the Parliament and leader of his Party, which is member of the ALDE, the 3rd largest political party of the European Parliament, announced that he will not vote for an increase of the funds for the E.F.S.F. and that he finds as a better solution for the rest of the Eurozone member countries, to let Greece go bankrupt.
On 11 October 2011, his party did not vote for the European Financial Stability Facility enlargement even though Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radičová tied the vote with a confidence vote for the government, thus toppling the Slovak government.
Refugee Crisis
A former refugee himself, Sulík has strongly opposed the acceptance of refugees from the Middle East, and has expressed anti-Islamic views, stating that "I don't want to live in a Europe where more Muslims are born than Christians".
See also
References
- ↑ "EP NEW PARTY NEARLY WON SEAT". Slovak Spectator. 15 June 2009.
- ↑ "Richard Sulík is elected new Speaker of Parliament". The Slovak Spectator. 9 July 2010.
External links
- (Slovak) Richard Sulík's homepage
- (Slovak) Richard Sulík's blog
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Pavol Paška |
Speaker of the National Council 2010–2011 |
Succeeded by Pavol Hrušovský |
|  | |