Robert Fico was not impressed by the 18,000 demonstrators in front of the parliament on Castle Hill in Bratislava. On Thursday, the Slovak Prime Minister’s three-party coalition decided on far-reaching changes to the criminal law. This affects laws to combat corruption and to prosecute economic and tax crimes. The law is intended to dissolve the special public prosecutor’s office, which primarily prosecutes corruption and which currently has cases involving Prime Minister Robert Fico’s entourage. Penalties for such acts should now be reduced and statutes of limitations should be shortened, and even MPs could benefit from this. The statute of limitations for rape and murder should also be shortened.
But it’s not just about paragraphs, writes the editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper on Friday Dennik N. Changing criminal laws runs counter to the modern world. “It’s about civilization.”
The opposition fears for EU funding
Fico, who has been Prime Minister of Slovakia for the fourth time since October, actually wanted to have the law passed by mid-January. But the opposition delayed the vote for a long time. In the meantime, there have been five major demonstrations across the country and beyond its borders since December. Three opposition parties called for this, especially the liberal party Progresívne Slovensko (PS), which came second in the election in September.
The opposition speaks of a pro-mafia law and warns that Fico is putting billions in EU subsidies at risk. In fact, the Commission had already expressed concern about the project and called for a review. The EU Parliament also spoke out against the changes in a resolution.
President Zuzana Čaputová, herself a lawyer, considers the law to be dangerous. She was very clear on her X account. She will examine all legal options to prevent the law from coming into force. She is convinced that this amendment could lead to social damage and “irreparably violate the rights of crime victims.” She is particularly critical of the fact that “some of the last-minute changes were suggested by MPs whose own ongoing cases will be directly affected”.
Nickname of the presumed next president: Fico’s bag carrier
Čaputová’s term in office is coming to an end after five years. The president and former civil rights activist, who is very popular with large parts of the population, does not want to run again. During her time in office, she and her two daughters were massively threatened and insulted. Robert Fico himself repeatedly denounced the president as a US agent working against her country.
At the beginning of April, the new President of Slovakia will be determined in an expected runoff election. Peter Pellegrini, currently Speaker of Parliament and founder of the left-wing populist party Hlas (Voice), has very good prospects. Opponents call him “bag carrier” and that is Fico’s bag. It is expected that the often moderate Pellegrini, who likes to emphasize his Christian faith, will act in the spirit of Robert Fico.
According to polls, Pellegrini could be in a neck-and-neck race with the former foreign minister and ambassador to Berlin and Washington, Ivan Korčok. This would probably continue Čaputová’s course. However, the opposition has not decided on a common candidate.
The opposition is diverse – but still united
Wednesday’s demonstration at least shows that the opposition is still united in the fight against Fico’s criminal justice reform. The very conservative, Christian party KDH is still on board alongside the liberal PS and the economically liberal SaS. The leader of the KDH condemned Fico’s plans in clear terms. There were fears that the opposition could split over the treatment of Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová. This caused a stir with disparaging speeches about the LGBT community. It also wants to intervene in the independence of state cultural institutions and is planning a broadcasting reform. Representatives of the KDH have often made derogatory comments about sexual minorities and, for example, reject registered partnerships.
Participants in the demo on Wednesday waved Slovakian national flags, but also European and Ukrainian flags. “Fico, you’ll end up in jail at some point,” read one poster. One put it mildly: “A little self-reflection wouldn’t be bad.” Even “Even Smer voters don’t want corruption” could be read. The nominally social democratic Smer-SD is Fico’s more left-wing populist party. Fico himself likes to dish out things against Ukraine.
The leader of the largest opposition party PS, Michal Šimečka, stated that he felt anger at the government’s actions. But, he writes on X, he doesn’t feel any hopelessness. “Tomorrow is a new day. We will use all the democratic means we have at our disposal.”