ECB’s Kažimír Under Fire for Avoiding Parliament Appearance Amid Fallout From Conviction

18 June 2025

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank Governing Council member and Slovak central bank chief Peter Kažimír is under pressure after declining to appear before Slovak lawmakers to present a report of the National Bank of Slovakia, fuelling criticism that he is seeking to evade domestic scrutiny in the wake of his recent bribery conviction.

Kažimír, who last month was found guilty of attempting to bribe a senior tax official while serving as finance minister in 2017, has thus far remained in office, resisting calls to step down. His absence from Parliament on Wednesday, when he was expected to formally present the NBS’s financial stability report, drew swift condemnation from members of the National Council.

Member of Parliament Marián Viskupič of the opposition SaS party noted that the parliamentary discussion of the report had been scheduled well in advance, meaning Kažimír could have planned his agenda to accommodate the occasion. Viskupič told Slovak media that if Kažimír feared uncomfortable questions from parliamentarians, then he could have stepped down from his position.

Referencing the fact that Kažimír’s term has formally ended and that his continued presence is due only to Parliament’s failure so far to select a successor, Viskupič said, `We have to consider that the governor of the National Bank of Slovakia has been convicted of corruption. If he himself has decided to stay on in the role, this is all the more reason he should be prepared to fulfil his duties properly and come before the National Council.`

The Slovak central bank explained Kažimír’s absence by citing a personal invitation from OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann for a working meeting in Paris, followed by a subsequent engagement at the European Commission in Brussels. In his place, Vice Governor Dušan Keketi represented the bank before lawmakers.