{"id":1178,"date":"2024-01-15T21:34:40","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T21:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/creas-eu.com\/?p=1178"},"modified":"2025-09-14T20:32:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T20:32:21","slug":"slovakia-after-parliamentary-elections-new-orbans-ally-and-a-witch-hunt-targeting-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/?p=1178","title":{"rendered":"Slovakia After Parliamentary Elections: New Orb\u00e1n\u2019s Ally and a Witch Hunt Targeting Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By Civic-Democratic Youth<\/em><\/p>\n\n

In February 2018, J\u00e1n Kuciak, a Slovak journalist, together with his fianc\u00e9e Martina, was brutally murdered in connection with his investigative work. This tragedy echoed strongly not only in Slovakia but also across Europe, occurring not long after the death of the Maltese journalist Daphne Galizia. In response to the assassination, social outrage and calls for change began to dominate the Slovak political landscape. Protests, initiatives, and demands for resignations emerged, showcasing the strength and vitality of civic society. For example, on the 9th of March 2018, more than 120,000 people took to the streets\u2014the largest number of protesters since the Velvet Revolution of 1989.<\/p>\n\n

Recognizing the political impossibility of surviving such an atmosphere, then-Prime Minister Robert Fico (yes, that one) resigned along with the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Culture. Instead of calling for snap elections, the political technocrat Fico reconstructed his government, placing his opportunistic lackey, Peter Pellegrini, in the prime minister’s seat. This dull and irresponsive of streets\u2019 calls government existed up until the scheduled elections of 2020, in which the still lively demands for change had finally the right opportunity to transform itself into a political force. Seizing this opportunity, the populist, anti-corruption activist Igor Matovi\u010d surprisingly won the elections and formed a government with a constitutional majority.<\/p>\n\n

New hope and a disillusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The new opposition and anti-Fico government had finally nothing to stand in its way. Except for a new worldwide virus, an aggressive war in a neighboring country, and rising costs of living. Because of personal insufficiencies and managerial chaos, Matovi\u010d\u2019<\/strong>s government was unable to respond to these challenges in a responsible and proper way, which paved the way for the nearly politically dead Robert Fico. However, competent judiciary authorities and police, in a relatively short time, fought corruption effectively. Under the new political climate, over 40 former officials, judges, prosecutors, and politicians, previously connected to Fico’s system, were sentenced or indicted for corruption and exploitation of power.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

On the other hand, through almost daily press conferences and the skillful utilization of pro-Russian narratives and disinformation, Fico\u2019<\/strong>s party, Smer-SSD (Direction – Slovak social democracy) gradually turned society’s anger and fear into political support, despite having a significant number of corruption scandals behind it. Seeking revenge and resurrection, Fico set his sights on the next parliamentary elections in September 2023.<\/p>\n\n

Although the campaign mostly took place during the summer, high temperatures did not spare the Slovaks from the overall roughness, vulgarity, and intellectual shallowness of the political competition. Instead of addressing pressing issues like high numbers of students studying abroad (Slovakia has the second-highest proportion of students studying abroad in the EU after Luxembourg), poor infrastructure or hospitals being on the brink of collapse, attention shifted to the presumed danger of bears, immigrants, and the LGBT+ community. Disinformation media have also played a significant role and a set of pro-Russian and anti-western narratives were also an integral part of the campaign. Even AI-made deep fake videos aimed against specific political parties emerged on social media.<\/p>\n\n

As polls had long suggested, Fico\u2019<\/strong>s party, Smer-SSD, eventually won. In just two weeks, a new social-democratic government was formed, together with Hlas-SD (Voice – Social Democracy) and the Slovak National Party, an anti-system right-extremist party, composed of figures from the disinformation ecosystem. Robert Fico, five years after resigning as an expelled loser, returned with a new political force and identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

The very ministers of the new government already demonstrate the characteristics and ambitions of the new social-democratic political climate. For instance, the new Minister of Culture is concurrently a moderator of a notorious disinformation portal, the Minister of Defense is involved in the scandal of the abduction of a foreign citizen, and the Minister of Environment has connections to dubious entrepreneurs. It is an open resignation of presenting a responsible vision for the future, but rather a display of emptiness.<\/p>\n\n

From now on, we are the rulers\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Shortly after coming to power, the newly appointed Minister of Interior targeted a group of investigators, often referred to as \u201c\u010durillovci\u201d. During Matovi\u010d’s government, these investigators played a crucial role in probing corruption at the highest political levels. Their work was politically sensitive, continuously unveiling pieces of a criminal infrastructure operating during Fico’s reign. With the new kings in the country, \u010durillovci were promptly relieved of duty, despite their official status as protected whistleblowers, granted by The Whistleblower Protection Office. The minister simply ignored it. However, thanks to the civic sector and diligent legal work, the court confirmed that their dismissal was illegal, allowing them to return to work. However, their authority and unfinished ongoing investigations had been already gone.<\/p>\n\n

The audacity and arrogance of Fico’s government had not yet reached its full extent. In December 2023, in an expedited legislative procedure, the government sought to abolish the Special Prosecutor’s Office. This special prosecution office, established in 2004, aimed to concentrate the fight against the most serious forms of crime in a single body immune from political influence. The Office of the Special Prosecutor is a cornerstone in upholding the rule of law. Abolishing it would prolong numerous investigations, including cases like the murder of J\u00e1n Kuciak. It’s crucial to note that this move comes amidst a worsening corruption situation in Slovakia. According to the Global Corruption Index, Slovakia ranks 42nd, placing it at the lower end of the EU, alongside countries such as Hungary and Romania. Abolishing such a vital institution would further weaken the already challenging fight against corruption. This concern was emphasized not only by the European Commission, which called on Slovakia to refrain from abolishing the elite branch of the prosecutor’s office, but also through civic protests involving tens of thousands of citizens. As of writing this article, another round of protests is being organized, and we, the Civic-Democratic Youth, strongly support this civic response.<\/p>\n\n

Fico<\/strong>\u2019s tragedy <\/strong>transcends Slovakia<\/strong>\u2019<\/strong>s borders<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

However, the negative implications of Fico\u2019<\/strong>s reign do not remain purely domestic. Robert Fico has been openly and persistently supportive of Orb\u00e1n\u2019<\/strong>s politics. On multiple occasions, Fico expressed his desire to establish a similar system in Slovakia, emphasizing its presumed sovereignty and fight against Brussels. But their views and opinions are even closer in foreign politics, as they both do not believe in the military solution to Ukraine\u2019<\/strong>s war and want to develop closer ties with Russia. This not only fragilizes European unity but also sets a potential precedent for a rise of similarly populistic leaders elsewhere in Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Concerning the notorious Visegr\u00e1d Group (V4), the victory of Tusk in Poland suggests that the Visegr\u00e1d Group may likely remain in an impotent and passive state. Otherwise, with leaders like Orb\u00e1n, Kaczy\u0144ski, and Fico, it might as well have had become an influential anti-EU bloc.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

The political paradigm shift in Slovakia, even with a generous dose of imagination and hope, is far from positive. Fico\u2019<\/strong>s ambition doesn’t involve presenting a vision for a better and prosperous future for Slovakia, solving real issues with necessary decisions, or being a responsible partner in the CEE region, that Europe would want to have, especially in the context of Orb\u00e1n’s regime and a bloody conflict close by.<\/p>\n\n

Rather, his ambition seems to be obstructing justice and compensating for the emptiness with a false sense of national populism and a fight against non-existent enemies. Fico’s return marks a significant setback for Slovakia and, concurrently with that, a setback for European unity, solidarity, and future prosperity.<\/p>\n\n

Civic-Democratic Youth<\/em><\/p>\n\n

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By Civic-Democratic Youth In February 2018, J\u00e1n Kuciak, a Slovak journalist, together with his fianc\u00e9e Martina, was brutally murdered in connection with his investigative work. This tragedy echoed strongly not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1178"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1773,"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1178\/revisions\/1773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creas-eu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}