Erik Kaliňák

Erik Kaliňák (born 9 September 1991) is a Slovak politician of Direction – Social Democracy (Smer–SD). He was elected member of the European Parliament in 2024. Kaliňák has been deputy leader of Smer–SD since 2020, as well as member of the National Council since 2023.

Early life and career
He is the nephew of deputy prime minister Robert Kaliňák. Kaliňák studied philosophy at the Comenius University graduating in 2015.

Kaliňák has called himself "a de-facto Rusyn with Bulgarian roots". He began working for Smer–SD in 2018, as the Facebook account manager of Robert Fico and Ľuboš Blaha. In the 2020 parliamentary election, he became a substitute member.