Michal Šimečka, chairman of the Progressive Slovakia movement, has been a member of the European Parliament since 2019 and one of its vice-chairmen since January 2022. In the past, he worked as a researcher at the Institute of International Relations in Prague, worked as an adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and also worked as a journalist for SME journal and the Financial Times. He holds a DPhil degree in Political Science and International Relations from Oxford University.