They would come back even at minus ten degrees Celsius. “We are not giving up on Slovakia,” shout the demonstrators in the center of Bratislava. According to media reports, around 20,000 people gathered at the Slovak National Uprising Square on Thursday evening. Live videos show a tightly packed crowd. After three demonstrations in December, people are standing in the cold again right after the Christmas holidays to protest against Robert Fico’s government. He has been Prime Minister again since October, for the fourth time.
There were also protests in 13 other Slovak cities. There were even demonstrations in Prague – there is a large foreign community of Slovaks living in the Czech Republic. Robert Fico, the Prime Minister, is also seen as one reason why so many people are leaving their country.
Fico’s slogans against the EU, USA and Ukraine
Fico and his left-wing populist party Smer-SD won the elections on September 30th with a result of almost 23 percent. During the election campaign and in previous years, when he was in the opposition, he secured a following with slogans against the EU, the USA and, most recently, against Ukraine and against refugees. Fico now governs with a narrow majority in a coalition with the right-wing extremist SNS party, which has been hijacked by conspiracy mongers, and the moderate, left-wing populist Hlas party.
What’s driving people to the streets are Fico’s law enforcement reform plans. Fico wants to abolish the special prosecutor’s office, which is essentially responsible for corruption cases. In addition, the penalties for many offenses related to nepotism and bribery are to be reduced.
An iconic image of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová could be seen on posters. The journalist and his girlfriend were shot dead in their home six years ago when they were 27 years old. Kuciak had researched mafia structures in the state, networks that reached deep into the police and judiciary. Many people at the time blamed Fico and his government for Kuciak’s death and other journalists and prosecutors being threatened.
“The murderers are back in power,” reads one poster
“The murderers and the mafia are back in power,” read one of the posters on Thursday evening. And further: “Jan and Martina, please excuse it taking so long. We’ll keep fighting!” Fico, the former Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák and the former police chief Tibor Gašpar resigned after mass protests in 2018 – now they are in the new government. Zuzana Homer from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Bratislava described the Slovaks as “a people without memory” in an interview with the SZ after the election. She was referring to the protests of 2018.
But some people obviously remember. Three opposition parties called for the protests, above all the liberal, pro-European Progresívne Slovensko (PS). It became the second strongest force in the parliamentary election with almost 18 percent. Together with the very conservative, Christian KDH and the economically liberal SaS, they are taking their protest from parliament to the streets. PS leader Michal Šimečka spoke openly at the rally about the major differences between the three parties. “But what unites us is that we like democracy and legality.”
In Parliament, the opposition has been delaying the adoption of the new criminal law legislation for weeks through various interventions. Fico originally wanted to implement his plan in an accelerated process by mid-January at the latest.
Ivan Korčok was also a guest at the demonstration. The former foreign minister and former ambassador of Slovakia to the USA is running for the presidential election on March 23rd. The people at the demo trust him to at least put a stop to Fico. Just like President Zuzana Čaputová is currently doing, who no longer wants to run after one term in office. She justifies this with threats against her family; She herself has long been insulted and slandered by Fico and his followers. Čaputová filed a complaint.
But Fico’s candidate is ahead in the polls. Peter Pellegrini is currently Chairman of Parliament and founder and leader of the Hlas (Voice) party. He used to belong to Fico’s party. He presents himself as European, social democratic, and overall as a friendly face of the government. But the demonstrators in Bratislava only have one word left for him: “bag holder.” Namely the Ficos. Pellegrini will act in Fico’s interests, critics fear, or at least not bother him.