Since winning the 2023 elections, Robert Fico’s government has aggressively pursued criminal cases against opposition leaders, seeking to punish them for their handling of the COVID-19 crisis and military aid to Ukraine. Meanwhile, efforts to investigate corruption have plummeted, raising alarms over the government’s true priorities and its broader implications for Slovakia’s democratic future.
The political atmosphere in Slovakia has become extremely polarised with the arrival of Fico’s government.
Members of the ruling Smer Party are openly pressuring police leadership to prosecute former government officials over their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and military aid to Ukraine.’They desperately want to put us behind bars, but they have nothing on us,’ says former Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď, commenting on the escalating political tensions in Slovakia.
For years, prosecuting political figures in Slovakia was virtually unthinkable – an unwritten pact among political parties ensured that while they attacked each other rhetorically, they refrained from allowing the police to pursue corruption cases tied to political elites.
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