Vladimír Mečiar, former three-time Prime Minister of Slovakia, is celebrating his 80th birthday. He was the long-time chairman of the People's Party–Movement for Democratic Slovakia (ĽS-HZDS). He founded the party in 1991 and was its chairman for 21 years until 2012, when he announced his retirement from the post. In the first half of 1990, he held the post of Minister of the Interior and Environment in the Slovak government. After parliamentary elections in June 1990, he became Prime Minister for the first time and served in this capacity until April 1991. In June 1992 he became Prime Minister again, an office he held until March 1994, when he was censured by members of Parliament. During this period of government, together with Czech Prime Minister Václav Klaus, he went through a series of negotiations which resulted in the division of Czechoslovakia, the common state of Czechs and Slovaks. After 30 years, they met in June in a televised debate to discuss the dissolution of the federation, but they left the stage prematurely. Vladimír Mečiar became Prime Minister for the third time in December 1994, serving until October 1998. Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, visiting Slovakia in 1998, criticised what was then the Slovak government. "There is now a hole on the map of Europe called Slovakia," she said, demanding that the opposition unite and form a democratic coalition. It was during this period that the president's son, Michal Kováč Jr. was kidnapped (1995), Róbert Remiáš was killed (1996), and in 1997 a referendum was thwarted. Prime Minister Mečiar's appearance on Slovak television in 1998, when he announced his retirement from the political scene after losing the parliamentary elections, became memorable. At the end he sang "With the Lord God I'm leaving you, I didn't hurt you, I didn't hurt any of you!" as he waved goodbye to his supporters and voters through the television screen.
Source: TASR
