REPCO

NIKODEM SZCZYGŁOWSKI: Last week, Bratislava saw its largest protest since 2018, when the murders of the journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend Martina Kušnirová took place. At the time, Robert Fico had to resign. What is the issue this time?

SAMUEL MAREC: Well, it’s about Europe. Just before Christmas, Fico went to have a photoshoot with Vladimir Putin in Moscow and has been dragging Slovakia out of Europe steadily ever since his return to power. This makes a lot of people worried. The protests are set to happen every Friday and tens of thousands of people have rallied all over Slovakia under the motto “Slovakia is Europe” (Slovensko je Európa). Slovakia is still a democratic country, but we feel like we’re at a crossroads. Within 15 months, changes in the penal code to protect his associates have been made and the state media have largely been brought to heel. Some private media have also followed suit. Fico’s coalition has really done a lot of damage by installing people into positions of power who have no qualifications or knowledge. And while doing all this, they have also been extremely rude and hostile, branding all discontent “anti-Slovak”. All of this gives a lot of reasons to protest, and the atmosphere is rather tense with Fico pushing it even further all the time.

At the protest in Kraków, organized by the local Slovaks, your manifesto was read out to those gathered. In it, you mentioned that on November 17th 2008 Robert Fico “forgot” about the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. Why is the perception of these events – like 1968 – different in Slovakia compared to the Czech Republic?

Robert Fico, a former communist party member, famously remarked that he “didn’t notice the Velvet Revolution” when it happened. This needs to be understood as a statement directed at his voters, with a lot of them feeling some nostalgia towards the “safer and more predictable” times pre-1989. Yes, these people do exist. On the other hand, we do have surveys and research showing that the population in general is very much aware of the positives of the EU. The euro as a currency is widely supported – in fact, nowhere is it as popular as in Slovakia. And yet, the transformation of the 1990s was very painful in Slovakia, much more than in the Czech Republic. People were not told it would be like this and weren’t ready for it. And once it happened, they were basically told to take care of themselves. Well, that’s not how it works. It creates discontent and nostalgia that Fico addressed in his statement.

How is the Robert Fico of 2025 different from the Robert Fico of 2018?

They are so different that they are in fact complete opposites. Up until 2018, Fico steadfastly maintained Slovakia had to be a part of the “core of the EU”. Today, he is saying the EU is heading into “difficult times” and may as well fall apart at some point – and Slovakia has got to be ready for that scenario. He has come up with a “multipolar” foreign policy but somehow, he always ends up in Russia. The EU and NATO are absolutely vital for Slovakia, both economically and strategically, and he’s set out to weaken these ties. And perhaps most worryingly, he does have certain authoritarian tendencies, and peaceful demonstrations are cast as “Maidan” – meaning an unlawful attempt to overthrow his democratically elected government. This is by no means true.

“In 2008 I was in Kraków on a scholarship. It was also during Robert Fico's government, and because, as he himself says, he didn't notice November 17th (the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia), I lit a few candles myself at the Adam Mickiewicz monument then. Many years have passed since then, Robert Fico is back in power, and it is no longer just about November 17th. Today, he wants to kidnap Slovakia like property and run away with it to the East. I am increasingly afraid that if the opportunity arose, he would also hijack it and move the country outside the European Union. The situation is therefore much more serious than it was then. We are dealing with Robert Fico in his most aggressive, primitive and vulgar version. I think that 2025 will be a key year for the direction in which Slovakia will go. I don't just mean the state of internal politics, but also the decision about its social character and affiliation. I believe that the decisions that are made now will have consequences not for a few years, but probably for decades. I mention this because events in the rest of the world cannot be overlooked. If you look at the United States, and also at the situation in many European countries, something is happening. And for someone like me ... things are happening that are of great concern. The world that is being created is not a good world. It is a world based on the law of the strongest, a world in which there are no agreements, no consensus and no law. The only law is the law of the strongest. And that is the world that Robert Fico has apparently also chosen. That is why it is important that you come to this assembly today. It is much more important than when I lit a few candles at the Mickiewicz monument years ago.

Thank you for coming. Thank you for thinking of us. I do not know if we will win, but we certainly must not give up. Slovakia needs us to do our best. And the fact that you have come together today means a lot.”

Can Fico be considered another variant of what was termed “Mečiarism” in the 1990s?

Indeed, he can. He addresses roughly the same demographic and with similar topics. He too uses both external and internal enemies to mobilize his electorate and solidify his power. In some aspects, it’s more difficult for him – Slovakia is a member of the EU and NATO and civic society is very much alive and ready. On the other hand, social media – especially Facebook – and their algorithms tend to be very favourable towards politicians like Mr. Fico. I also believe the Robert Fico of 2025 is a part of a broader trend of populist right-wing politicians taking over many European countries and the US. So, he might as well be right and we might be heading for “difficult times” but for Fico, this is only an excuse to solidify his grip on power and on Slovakia as such. But he’s facing stern opposition both within politics and in civil society.

What do Robert Fico and Viktor Orbán really have in common, what compels Fico to cooperate with the Hungarian authoritarian regime?

I believe it’s two things. They share a common vision of what politics should look like – it should be authoritarian with them at the helm. And they only ever have negative things to say about the EU and tend towards Russia. I couldn’t possibly tell if it’s something that comes natural to them or only serves as a means to an end. And it also doesn’t matter. Fico and Orbán act like they want to save the “true Europe” with its traditional values, such as two genders, etc. But at the end of the day, the bottom line is ruling their respective countries with as little checks and balances as possible. What is worth noting, though, is that while Fico and Orban are in fact allies, Hungary is the only country that questions Slovakia’s territorial integrity on a regular basis. Maps with Slovakia called Felvidék (literally the Upper [Hungarian] lands) as a part of Hungary occur regularly and even Hungarian government officials display them. This kind of makes you question the wisdom of Mr. Fico’s strategic partnerships.

Recently, comparisons between Robert Fico and Jozef Tiso have often been made. For example, there have been comments such as “Tiso did what he did because he was forced to do it. Fico is doing it because he wants to maintain power.” What is your opinion?

There has been some debate about this comparison. I know these quick conclusions sound good and are sexy, but I’d rather avoid them. There are numerous huge differences between Fico and Tiso. These are different eras, Slovakia is a different country, they are different politicians and also Fico has not even come close to doing what Jozef Tiso did – and he never will. Tiso sided with the Nazis during the Second World War and was complicit in exterminating Slovakia’s Jewish population. Fico really doesn’t come close to that. Can we compare him to Vladimir Mečiar? Yes, we can. But comparing him to Jozef Tiso is a stretch, really.

Slovakia after 1993 under Vladimir Mečiar was also often compared to Tiso's “independent” state. Why do such figures keep coming back in Slovak politics? Can it be justified by the never completely unaccounted for period of the Slovak People’s Party’s (Hlinkova slovenská ľudová strana; Ľudáks) – de facto fascist – rule, which lasted almost seven years and left a deeper mark in the memory of Slovaks than one might think?

Yep, Slovakia has not yet come to terms with its history, and this applies to the fascist “Slovak State” of the war as well as the communist era. On the other hand, when looking at Slovakia, rather than searching for “historic” explanations of “the soul of the nation”, I tend towards socio-economic factors. In the 1990s, as I mentioned before, Slovakia underwent an extremely painful economic transformation with unemployment as high as 30 per cent in some regions. Many companies and huge factories forming the bedrock of local communities went bankrupt from one day to another. People lost their jobs and were told it was their fault if they couldn’t find work. Under Mečiar, Slovakia was struggling to stay afloat as a country. These were times of great uncertainty, and some people were not able to adjust to this situation. While some saw it as a bonanza of opportunities, many were left in unchartered territory without any tools to navigate it. The 2008 economic crisis followed. Even today, there still are a lot of people in Slovakia who have not benefited economically or socially from the liberal-democratic order – or they feel like they haven’t. And this is the demographic that Mečiar used to address, and then Fico took over from him.

In Croatia, it is still true that both historians and the public do not have a common assessment of the NDH period. What does it look like in Slovakia?

Pretty much the same. Mostly it’s not discussed, really. And it won’t be in the near future. Basically, there are two sides. There are the ones saying that bad things indeed happened but justify this by saying it was the Second World War and for the first time ever, Slovakia was an independent country. Then there are the ones saying that it was an authoritarian puppet regime of Nazi Germany that exterminated large parts of its own population. And then there’s most people who just don’t care, really. A lot of self-reckoning needs to be done in Slovakia and it’s not coming in the near future.

What are the sources of sympathy toward authoritarian Russia in Slovak society? Why do the distant – both culturally, linguistically, mentally and geographically – Russians seem closer to some Slovaks than Poles or Ukrainians, or even Czechs?

There are multiple aspects to this. Czechs are always considered “brothers” – although at times a patronizing older brother. Before the war, Ukraine was barely thought of, honestly. And Poles? I’d be curious to hear what Slovaks think and know about Poland. I studied in Krakow and Warsaw, so I know a lot about Poland and follow it closely, but most people don’t, really. And then there’s Russia. First, let me put this straight: at the moment, Slovakia does have a pro-Russian government but it’s not a pro-Russian country. We’ve got decades of research to show that pro-Russian sentiment is constantly below 20 per cent and declining slowly but steadily. And we’ve also got research that shows what this pro-Russian sentiment means. In fact, it’s not pro-Russian as much as it is anti-European or anti-American. And when I say anti-American or anti-European, I mean these people want something like today, so a democratic and capitalist system, they just want it to be “more human”, more communal, more understandable. They don’t want things to change so quickly and so much. And Russia, positioning itself as the defender of traditional values, addresses their worries and needs – and it has also been attacking Slovakia with huge disinformation campaigns for a decade now. And it shows.

How, in your opinion, does Slovak society currently stand out from other Central European nations? What do Slovaks have in common with Czechs or Poles, and what divides them?

Now that’s a good question. Like I’ve said, I believe what’s happening in Slovakia is happening all over the West to a large degree. On the other hand, the threat that pro-western and democratic Slovakia is facing right now is serious and honestly, it’s not a situation we thought we’d be in in 2025. Perhaps it’s time for us, the citizens, to stand up and win the fight for democracy once more. During the war, our ancestors stood up against Nazi Germany and launched the Slovak National Uprising in 1944. In 1989, we peacefully removed the communists. In 1998, we defeated Vladimir Mečiar. And here we are in 2025, with an authoritarian and pro-Russian Robert Fico talking about possibly leaving the EU and NATO. That’s the fight we’re facing right now and if we do succeed, then yeah, I guess that would make us stand out quite a bit. What do we have in common with Czechs and Poles? Obviously, quite a lot of history. But rather than dwelling on that, I guess we’re also facing very similar problems. If you look at Fico in Slovakia, PiS in Poland and Mr. Babiš in Czech Republic, well, these are similar politicians with similar policies addressing similar voters. Obviously, there are political, economic and societal differences between these countries, but we also have a lot in common.

In Serbia, where massive protests against the regime are taking place, I have heard this opinion about the rule of Aleksandar Vučić – “the only alternative to Vučić is Vučić.” The same is said about Orbán's rule in Hungary. What is the alternative to Fico in Slovakia?

Recently, Fico has been openly pro-Russian, has talked about the possibility of “Slovexit”, and has branded peaceful protests as “Maidan” – meaning a violent overthrow of a democratically elected government, possibly directed from abroad. He has been spreading conspiracies and misinformation and has been extremely critical of our crucial allies in the West. Thus, the alternative is clear – the pro-European, pro-democratic opposition parties, including (but not only) the socially liberal Progressive Slovakia (Progresívne Slovensko, PS); the economically liberal Freedom and Solidarity (Sloboda a Solidarita, SaS); and the conservative Christian-Democratic Movement (Kresťanskodemokratické hnutie, KDH). This could be the bedrock of a future pro-European coalition. Fico’s government has also been damaged by internal infighting, and he has not delivered for his voters. His coalition has been losing ground for a number of reasons and Progressive Slovakia has been leading the polls for months now. And given that Mr. Fico has been talking about holding snap elections, anything can happen. For me, the following is crucial: Fico’s grip on power is nowhere near as firm as he pretends or projects it to be. He lacks true political strength or vision as well as popular support. His coalition lacks stability and at times even a majority in parliament and he’s been falling behind steadily in the polls – currently, he's below 20 per cent. His support is nowhere near Orbán’s and there’s a viable alternative. There are viable alternatives. Anything can happen but Slovakia is not a lost cause by any means.

 

Nikodem Szczygłowski is a traveller, writer and reporter. He studied Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Łódź and at CEMI in Prague. He is fluent in Lithuanian and Slovenian.

Samuel Marec is a translator, publicist and writer. He writes for the daily newspapers SME and Denník N and for the Czech portal Seznam Zprávy. He has recently published a book in Slovakia titled How to get rid of Slovakia's despair and defeat Robert Fico (Ako sa zbaviť zúfalstva zo Slovenska a poraziť Roberta Fica).