Slovakia

For the Hlas party, whose candidates won big in elections to the national legislature and the presidency in Slovakia, harsh anti-EU rhetoric and disinformation was a new tactic in the elections to the EP –  the wrong one, as it turned out.

Slovakia's ruling nationalist-populist coalition plans to introduce controversial Hungarian-style NGO regulations, raising concerns about transparency and fears of increased bureaucracy and repression of civil society.  

With the return of former Prime Minister Fico, old authoritarian patterns could resurface in the upcoming elections. However, progressives also have a chance to win.

More reports about rapes by the Russian army against the Ukrainian girls and women who are arriving in Slovakia have been exposed. In the meantime, the Slovak parliament is discussing proposals on banning abortion for women without permanent residency. This cynical targeting of Ukrainian girls and women is disturbing, says Denisa Nešťáková.

The consequences of the war in Ukraine are palpable even in Bratislava, over a thousand kilometres from the border. Ukrainian is heard more often on the streets, cars with Ukrainian number plates are appearing on the roads, the windows of shops and apartments are festooned with Ukrainian flags, and the city is alive with marches and initiatives in support of Ukraine. The only thing that has remained unaffected is the flow of oil and gas from Russia to Slovakia, and our payments for it.

February 2020 will be written into the modern political history of Slovakia as a month with a great turning point which combined in a special way two dramatic themes in the internal political development of the country.

Slovak political landscape is exceptionally fragmented ahead of February 29 general elections. One of the last opinion polls published before the election polls moratorium foresees eight parties to be represented in the parliament. However, conceivable scenarios include 6 to 12 parties possibly entering the parliament.  This pre-election analysis was published by EuroPolicy in cooperation with the Prague office of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung.  

As 2020 opens with dramatic global events demanding attention and care, the countries of the European Union remain divided on crucial issues from climate change to foreign policy. The relationship between Germany and the countries of Central Europe is pivotal to many of these impasses.