Slovakia’s populist new prime minister, Robert Fico, has been accused of promoting a “poisonous” plan to undercut prosecutors working on sensitive corruption cases.
Fico, a controversial figure known for railing against independent media and criticising military aid to Ukraine, has announced plans to scrap the special prosecutor’s office, an institution that deals with cases of high-level corruption and organised crime.
The Slovak government’s proposal is expected to be approved in the coming weeks using a fast-track procedure. “The special prosecutor’s office cannot be fixed,” Fico said on Wednesday. “The evil in the form of [the special prosecutor Daniel] Lipšic must end.”
The issue has caused so much concern in Bratislava that Eduard Heger, a former prime minister, flew to Brussels this week to personally convey his worries to the European Commission.
“This is a great attack on the rule of law principle of our democratic society in Slovakia in general,” Heger told the Guardian after his meeting, calling the plans “poisonous”.
Fico’s critics say they fear the government’s aim is to stop ongoing investigations into individuals connected to the ruling Smer party and to pave the way for some of them to get government posts.
“It is all aimed to stop all the investigation of the current cases,” Heger said, noting that “there was no discussion with the stakeholders”.
The special prosecutor’s office has garnered public attention for taking on highly sensitive corruption cases over the past few years, which some say has made it a target.
Lipšic said in a phone interview on Wednesday morning before Fico’s criticisms: “What did change since 2020 is that this office has prosecuted or started prosecuting also very high-profile corruption and economic crime cases, which means that very influential politicians and people from business – including some very well-known oligarchs – are being prosecuted.
“That was the starting point, when part of the political spectrum started attacking the special prosecution office – because many, many influential individuals from public life or from the business life have been charged and eventually indicted.”
Lipšic said there was no reason to eliminate his office. “There are no real arguments in favour of that,” he said, noting that “the success rate of our indictments is 93 to 94%.”
Christian Wigand, the European Commission’s spokesperson for rule of law and justice issues, confirmed on Tuesday that the bloc’s justice commissioner, Didier Reynders, had met in Brussels with Fico and two ministers who raised the issue of planned legislative amendments.
“Following that meeting, the Slovak government sent us information on the planned reforms,” Wigand said, adding that “given the scope of the planned reforms it is particularly important to conduct a proper consultation with stakeholders at national and European level”.
He said: “The commission will need to look into certain issues more closely. We will, in particular, examine the legislative reforms on anti-corruption and the special prosecution office to assess their compatibility with relevant European standards and EU law.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Wigand said that the commission had sent a letter to Slovakia’s justice minister.
“The wide-ranging scope of the intended amendments and the numerous areas of EU law concerned require a thorough and sound analysis. This is why, in this letter, we have asked the Slovak government not to advance on the intended amendments as yet, and especially not to resort to a fast-track procedure without proper and thorough consultation,” he said.
The Commission stands ready for further political and technical discussions to look into these issues more closely. We also recommend consultation of the Venice Commission [of the Council of Europe] on the intended amendments.
Slovakian officials have insisted in public comments that cases continue to be investigated despite the planned changes.
Fico’s office did not respond to a request for comment. The justice minister, Boris Susko, also did not respond to questions.
There are growing fears in Bratislava about the potential impact of the move. Michal Šimečka, who heads the opposition Progressive Slovakia party, said: “The special prosecutor’s office has brought to justice a number of high-level corruption cases, including officials, politicians and oligarchs with links to Robert Fico’s Smer party. Now in power, Smer wants to abolish the special prosecutor’s office to ensure impunity. It is as simple as that.”
Radoslav Procházka, a lawyer and former politician, said: “The optics are very bad, because instead of an extensive debate, this substantial change is to be adopted via an expedited procedure. If it passes, it is likely to reduce the speed and the intensity of an important tool in fighting corruption. Nonetheless, a lot will depend on what the prosecutor general will do next with all the cases transferred to his office.”
