Ivan Šimko


Ivan Šimko is Slovak politician and former Defence Minister.
A founding member of the Christian Democratic Movement in 1990, Šimko left to co-found the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union in 2000. After a disagreement with Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda, he led a group of MPs to form the Free Forum in January 2004. He surprisingly lost the party's leadership election two months later to Zuzana Martináková, and he left in October 2004 to form Mission 21 – New Christian Democracy. In May 2010, he returned to the Christian Democratic Movement.