As fears grow that Slovakia is following Hungary down a path away from the rule of law, the country’s opposition says it is determined to prove that citizens want a democratic future.
Since coming back to power last year, Slovakia’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico, has taken aim at the media, NGOs and prosecutors.
Critics say that, like his friend in neighbouring Hungary, Viktor Orbán, Fico is attempting to undermine checks and balances and cement his power while taking a friendlier stance toward Russia.
Journalists in Slovakia have expressed alarm over a government decision last week that would replace the country’s public broadcaster and, they say, open it up to political influence.
Meanwhile, Fico’s move to close down a special prosecutor’s office focused on high-level corruption has raised the possibility that the EU could freeze some funding allocated to Slovakia.
Discussions are ongoing between Brussels and Bratislava on anti-corruption safeguards and what Slovakia would need to do to secure access to EU money. The European Commission’s vice-president in charge of EU values, Věra Jourová, met Fico in Bratislava last week to discuss the issues.
Legislation that would label civil society groups that receive more than €5,000 (£4,300) a year in international funding as “organisations with foreign support” has also triggered worries in the EU and among NGOs.
“This bill is a full-frontal assault on civil society,” said Rado Sloboda, Amnesty International Slovakia’s director. “A thinly disguised attempt to stigmatise civil society organisations that are critical of the authorities and hamper their vital work.”
Despite the controversies, Peter Pellegrini, a Fico ally, defeated a pro-western diplomat in a presidential election last month.
The outcome has frustrated Slovakia’s progressive opposition, which has become more energised in recent months over fears about the future of rule of law standards.
As the country prepares for European elections in June, Progressive Slovakia’s lead candidate says he believes there are lessons to be learned from recent disappointments at the polls, and that progressives can win with a new strategy.
“When I meet people, they are saying that they see a clear hope that these elections can be different,” said Ľudovít Ódor, a former deputy governor of Slovakia’s national bank who briefly served as Slovakia’s prime minister last year at the helm of a technocrat government.
Ódor told the Guardian the tide was turning and that it was possible to show “Slovakia is not only Robert Fico and his company, but actually it is much more”.
Some Slovaks have been keen to demonstrate that they disagree with government policies. More than 63,000 people participated in an initiative to collect funds to buy ammunition for Ukraine that raised more than €4m.
A Eurobarometer poll published last month showed that 54% of Slovak respondents said “things are going in the wrong direction” in their country.
But in an environment where misinformation is rampant and society is polarised, Fico’s opponents have so far struggled to fully capitalise on discontent.
Ódor said a key lesson for the European parliament campaign was to reach out to voters outside big urban areas.
“I would like to run the campaign also in smaller towns, and to talk to people in the regions, because now they are getting a bit dissatisfied with this government,” he said.
Ódor, who comes from Slovakia’s Hungarian-speaking minority, stressed that the country’s opposition needed to be on the same page, and he made a case for reaching out to centrist and conservative voters.
“We need to somehow integrate the pro-democratic forces in Slovakia,” he said. “Progressive Slovakia should be a bit more open to people like me, who [are] more centre, centre-right people, in order to attract even slightly conservative or centre voters.”
The European elections will not directly affect Fico’s position at home, but there are hopes within the opposition that if progressives do well, they could act as a guardrail.
“It is very important that Fico sees that there is some power in Slovakia which can beat him. Then maybe they would be a bit more cautious in the things they are doing,” Ódor said.
The European parliament election will be important because voters who felt pessimistic after the presidential election require inspiration, he said. “They need some new impulse to still follow politics and to still believe that Slovakia can go back to the more democratic way.”
