Government Affairs - The Current Political Climate in Slovakia Part 2
by: Jolanka Kocianova Vuong
Reading time 7 mins 20 sec
Peter Dutton. Photo by UK Government, licensed under CC BY 2.0
When writing Part 1 of the article, I did not place on a second article on the political climate in Slovakia. Unfortunately, the situation in Slovakia has not calmed down. It seems that things have further spiralled out of control. Slovakia experienced a coalition crisis at the beginning of the year, causing the parliament to be suspended for months, only to be solved by possible hidden bribery. Once the crisis was solved, the government was free to go on in its typical style: mismanaging an epidemic, assuring Russia of Slovakia’s support, bringing Slovakia’s cultural institutions to the verge of collapsing, and most recently building villas out of Eurofonds. The list goes on and on. Read on to find out more.
Why be an MP when you can be a Minister?
In Slovakia, Fico’s party, SMER–SD, formed a coalition with the 2nd social democratic party HLAS-SD and the ultranationalist party SNS. This move guaranteed them a slim majority of 79 MPS in parliament (150 seats). Then, the coalition crisis began in October when three MPs led by Rudolf Huliak broke away from SNS and withdrew their support in the parliament. They insisted on a ministerial seat in exchange for support of the government. As the coalition still had the majority with 76 MPs, they rejected this proposal. The problem became more severe when four MPs from HLAS-SD around Samuel Migaľ began to rebel against some proposals, criticising the close ties of the government to Moscow. So Fico had two options: either a coalition crisis or snap elections. He chose for the first, and parliament did not gather for two months (late November 2024 – early February 2025). While the group around Huliak was open about their demands for a ministry, the group led by Migaľ claimed it was not about the position but about the values of the government. After months of crisis, the coalition caved in, bribing the deviants with ministries in exchange for support for the government. Huliak is the Minister of Tourism and Sport, a new ministry created specifically for this purpose, and curiously, Migaľ became the Minister for Investment and Information. So did this solve the coalition crisis? Not entirely. Since Ministers are not MPs, the government still didn’t have enough seats. The solution: Miroslav Radačovský gets promoted as MP. This appointment is controversial; his party (PATRIOT) did not even get enough votes to be in parliament and is certainly not part of the coalition. Furthermore, as attentive readers of international news know, he was responsible for releasing a pigeon in the European Parliament in Strasbourg as a symbol for peace.
Mouth-and-Foot disease – (Mis)managing an epidemic.
In March, cases of Mouth-and-Foot disease – an infectious disease that mainly affects cattle and other livestock- have been detected in Hungary, merely 15 km from the Slovak border. A short time later, Slovakia declared a state of emergency. Yet, measures failed, the disease spread to six nearby farms, and a quarantine zone was introduced for the perimeter. All farms within this area had to destroy their livestock, whether infected or not. The situation escalated so far that Czechia and Austria introduced checks on borders to Slovakia. As of now, the situation seems to have calmed down, but the political aftermath remains. While the government claims to have introduced measures adhering to the report issued by the Commission, many politicians from the opposition criticise Fico for his shortcomings. An MEP accused him of having left out some information in Slovakia’s report to the Commission. Moreover, a video went viral, showing how the euthanized animals were being transported in an open container on a truck. Journalistic investigations revealed that this is not only one case, but several such trucks have been seen. This is a violation of the hygienic procedure, according to which the containers have to be sealed and disinfected to prevent the spread of the disease. Furthermore, Fico ironically set out to fight disinformation. Conspiracy theories are still spreading, labelling the mouth and foot disease as a bioweapon against Slovakia. Fico’s appeal to the public to adhere to the rules and not to believe conspiracy theories is in contrast to his behaviour 5 years ago. During the COVID pandemic, he riled people in town squares, refusing to wear a mask and calling the virus a hoax. It seems as if Fico is experiencing the consequences of setting a platform for conspiracies firsthand.
Eurofund Fraud and Villas by the Mediterranean Sea
Attention Real Estate Agents – this is your chance to invest in Mediterranean Villas. Having property in Croatia seems to be a trend in the Slovak government. Journalistic investigations started when a local Croatian politician pointed out that Fico bought land in Ražanj and started building a villa.
While investigations did not confirm this, they revealed other interesting Facts. Not Fico, but Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák owns a villa in Croatia. This would not be an issue per se, but the news portal Aktuality.sk found out that this property is not listed in his tax statement, therefore evading taxes on this property. Shortly after, he acknowledged the existence of the villa on the island of Pag. Rather than admitting his mistake, he justified his omission by publishing a video, explaining that the villa is registered to his wife. He bought the almost 1400 m2 property for €296,000 because of the allergies of his children. His reason for not declaring the property in his tax statement is that he wanted to protect the privacy of his family. The politician who flagged the minister’s undeclared villa, opposition MP Veronika Remišová, is now facing a process against her. The procedure to dismiss her from the position as committee chair has been initiated, and she was accused of breaching the constitution and the law. Kaliňák wants her to be fined a sum of 80,000 euros – equivalent to her 12-month salary. Remišová described this as “Gestapo-like tactics”. Yet this is not the only development.
Adding to the controversy, Kaliňák’s neighbour in Croatia is Jaroslav Haščák, a co-founder of the financial group Penta, which has been involved in several high corruption scandals, and the firm’s entanglement with Slovak politicians is well known. The location in Croatia also has properties owned by several other wealthy Slovaks, such as the husband of the former agriculture minister Denisa Sakova (HLAS) or MP Anton Stredák, along with other high-profile politicians. All of them are close contacts to oligarch Norbert Bödör, facing several accusations in Slovakia. This raises questions about the origin of the money for these properties. In one case, the EU unknowingly financed such a project, albeit not in Croatia. Suspicious Grants from Eurofonds have been paid out by the Government to build a property. The official story: the money has been used to build a pension for tourists. Yet when journalists from the portal 360tka travelled to the location of the alleged Pension, they found a luxurious villa behind closed gates. There is no sign indicating that this is an accommodation, no website exists, and neighbours have not seen any hotel guests. When addressing the former minister responsible for the grants, he evades the question and insults the journalist. In response, the opposition appealed to the European Commission to investigate the mismanagement of EU funds in Slovakia. Both cases highlight the importance of investigative journalism and raise important questions about the government’s integrity.
Ministry of (Un)Culture
Adding the general air of incompetence is culture minister Martina Šimkovičová (SNS), earning the nickname of Minister of Unculture (from being uncultured). The hard-right Minister has repeatedly made anti-LGBTQ+ statements and is known for her controversial choices. After assuming the position, she has fired many directors of various artistic institutions in Slovakia, including the Slovak National Theatre. Many of them were highly qualified with a strong international reputation, such as the national theatre director who was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters at the rank of knight by France’s culture minister. Instead, she appointed people close to her to replace them, such as her neighbour from Kittsee, Petra Flach, an economist. These dismissals caused chaos in the cultural institutions, which forced many experts to quit. Concern about Slovakia’s culture has been voiced widely, and protests against the Minister took place in December. Her projects include reworking the national anthem, which several music experts and Dramaturgs criticised heavily, although costing almost 50.000 euros, without paying the orchestra. She also used an exhibit in the Bratislava castle to display her paintings, one of which looks suspiciously similar to one of Monet’s paintings. The minister is also infamous for her English skills, making international news in Hong Kong where she was supposed to talk about Slovakia’s culture. Instead, she spoke of Slovakia not having a sea, much to the attendees’ confusion. Another eyebrow-raising display of her skills was her appearance at a UNESCO conference in Abu Dhabi.
Fico and Russia vs the EU
While Part 1 already mentioned Fico’s close ties to Putin, this relationship has reached another level recently, in a way that threatens EU unity. First, the Slovak Prime Minister stopped the EU’s plans to stop the import of Russian natural gas by the end of 2027, calling the plan unacceptable, and later showed up at the V-Day celebration in Moscow. Fico gathered in Moscow along with other Kremlin-friendly leaders and autocrats. The Baltics caught wind of his plans and blocked their airspace, causing the PM to take the detour. He is the only leader from the EU in Moscow; not even Viktor Orban dared to oppose the EU’s warning not to go to Russia’s Victory Day celebration.Before attending the parade, Fico drew attention by once again having a dispute with Zelensky. Ukraine’s president warned foreign dignitaries that he cannot guarantee the security of foreign delegations coming to Moscow, which Fico condemned harshly, earning a reprimand from Kyiv’s ambassador in Slovakia.
These developments are more than concerning as they present a display of incompetence and dubious activities. Especially concerning the government’s past, explained in part 1, the situation cannot be taken lightly. Slovakia gains more international attention, putting Fico under pressure. Fico’s disregard for the EU’s values and guidelines can be very dangerous as he further disunites the EU.
