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Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is testing “the limits of democracy” with his judicial overhaul and attacks on the constitutional court, the country’s outgoing president has warned.
Zuzana Čaputová, a standard bearer for liberal politics in central Europe, criticised Fico for his attempts to weaken the rule of law and his outreach to Russia, comparing him to Hungary’s PM Viktor Orbán.
“Slovakia these days is quite often compared to Hungary and it seems clear that this [Fico] government takes some inspiration from Hungary,” she said in an interview with the Financial Times.
Since Fico came to power in October, Slovakia has found common cause with Hungary in criticising western support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia. Fico said this month that “the western strategy of using the war in Ukraine to weaken Russia economically, militarily and politically does not work”.
Last week, Slovak and Hungarian foreign ministers broke ranks with their EU counterparts by meeting Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Turkey. Čaputová said that the meeting with Lavrov did not bring her country closer to peace but “created more distance between Slovakia and our partners and allies”.
The president also raised concerns about Fico’s domestic agenda, which could risk similar rule-of-law disputes with Brussels that were previously faced by Hungary and Poland.
Fico’s ruling coalition pushed through a legal reform in February that weakens the judiciary’s ability to prosecute graft, including by dismantling an anti-corruption office, in defiance of street protests across Slovakia and warnings from Brussels about safeguarding the rule of law.
The EU could freeze Slovakia’s funding over rule of law violations, as it did against Poland and Hungary.
“Just as for any other EU state, if there is a serious violation of the rule of law in Slovakia, the conditionality of EU funding should apply,” Čaputová said.
She has sent Fico’s judicial reform to the constitutional court, which suspended some of its contents that would soften penalties for some crimes, including white-collar fraud. Fico’s allies have said new legislation could be drafted to pre-empt a negative court ruling.
The PM on Tuesday suggested that the next Slovak president should oust a top judge on the constitutional court for allegedly being responsible for a media leak.
Čaputová said such intimidation was “absolutely unacceptable and irresponsible” as it “casts doubt” on the independence of the court.
“I think the limits of democracy are being tested,” she said, pointing to Fico’s judicial reforms and the government’s increased pressure on the media and non-governmental organisations.
The frontrunner to replace Čaputová in presidential elections on March 23 is Peter Pellegrini, a coalition partner in Fico’s government whose election would consolidate the coalition’s grip on power.
Čaputová has said she will not run for re-election after five different governments in as many years have left her “completely exhausted”. Instead, she said she planned to vote for former foreign minister Ivan Korčok, the candidate backed by the liberal opposition.
Opinion polls indicate that the tight race between Pellegrini and Korčok will be decided in a run-off on April 6.
The president has a largely ceremonial role, but can delay legislation by triggering constitutional reviews and can appoint and dismiss judges on the top court.
A lawyer, Čaputová was elected in 2020 on the back of anti-Fico demonstrations triggered by the murders of a journalist and his fiancée, which forced the PM to resign. The journalist, Ján Kuciak, had been probing alleged ties between Fico’s Smer party and criminal networks. Both the premier and Smer deny having links to organised crime.
A “substantial part of the population” was still very engaged in democratic processes and had not forgotten what Kuciak was writing about, she said.
“I think that people have also not forgotten the missed opportunity of a political alternative that was meant to bring stability and security to Slovakia.”
