Although Marek spent a few years studying and working abroad, he never expected to leave his native Slovakia permanently. He had a group of close friends and a festival to run in the east of the country.
But he changed his mind last September after the re-election of Robert Fico, a populist who promised he would stop military aid to Ukraine, promote conservative family values, and muzzle the courts that have been investigating high-level corruption cases tied to his allies.
