Mikuláš Dzurinda

Mikuláš Dzurinda is the former Prime Minister of Slovakia (1998-2006) whose far-reaching governmental reforms enabled Slovakia to enter NATO and the European Union in 2004. He currently serves as President of the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, the official think tank of the European People’s Party based in Brussels. In 2007, he was awarded the F.A. Hayek International Prize for reforms and his fight against bureaucracy. He is also a marathon runner who ran in the 2001 New York City Marathon honoring the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks, an extraordinary gesture by a visiting Prime Minister.