Tomáš Taraba

Tomáš Taraba (born 13 February 1980) is a Slovak politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Minister of Environment in the Fourth cabinet of Robert Fico since 25 October 2023.

With a previous business background, Taraba was elected to the National Council in 2020 on the list of Kotlebists – People's Party Our Slovakia. Notably, he was never a formal member of the People's Party, neither before nor after his election. From 2019 to 2023, he served as chairman of Life – National Party. Taraba suspended his party membership to run on the list of the Slovak National Party, on which he was elected in the 2023 parliamentary election. Taraba is among the three most popular ministers in the Slovak government, boasting a total approval rating of 43% as of April 2024.

Early life and education
Taraba was educated at Pezinok Grammar School. Afterwards, he studied political science at the Comenius University, graduating in 2003. Taraba also studied business management at the University of Regensburg.

Upon graduation, Taraba worked as in the private sector and in the SARIO government agency.

Political career
Taraba acted as an advisor to the chairman of the Christian Democratic Movement, Ján Figeľ, which both of them denied. He worked at SARIO in the foreign direct investment section in 2006.

Taraba joined Life – National Party in 2019 and became its chairman at the same time. In the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election, he was among the Life members elected on the ballot of the far right People's Party Our Slovakia. Taraba left the parliamentary group of the People's Party shortly after the February election due to political disagreements with Milan Mazurek at the end of May 2020.

In March 2021 interviews during the coalition crisis, Taraba expressed possible support for the minority government after the potential departure of SaS and For the People.

Taraba gave up his position as chairman of Life and ran as an independent candidate on the SNS candidate list in the 2023 Slovak parliamentary election. He became Minister of Environment on 25 October 2023.

Personal life
Taraba is multilingual, able to speak Slovak, French, German, and English. He is married to his wife Denisa with five children.