Portrait of Iveta Radičová: Slovakia's Former Prime Minister Revisited

A new profile of Iveta Radičová — the politician often credited with reshaping Slovakia's democratic landscape — offers a candid, myth-free account of her life and legacy. Radičová, a sociologist by training, served as Slovakia's first and only female prime minister from 2010 to 2012, leading a centre-right coalition government that came to power following years of dominance by Robert Fico's Smer-SD party. Her tenure was marked by efforts to strengthen the rule of law and restore institutional credibility, though her government collapsed after losing a confidence vote tied to the eurozone bailout fund. The portrait aims to present her as a human figure rather than a political symbol, stripping away both idealization and caricature to examine the woman behind one of Slovakia's most distinctive political careers.