Slovakia

The Slovak political scene has unified and called for calming political tensions following the attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico. However, there are concerns that the governing parties might exploit this tragedy to strengthen their power. It is necessary for political leaders to act responsibly and consider long-term consequences, commented Kristína Chlebáková, Project Manager at Institute EUROPEUM, for the Slovenian newspaper Delo.

Slovakia joined the European Union 20 years ago in its biggest enlargement to date. Among the main benefits of this move is an increase in the economy, up to 80%. Žiga Faktor, deputy director and head of EUROPEUM Institute's Brussels office, described the future direction of the Union.

Slovakians voted in the first round of presidential elections. The fiercest battle was between two politicians - as was expected - former Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini and opposition candidate and former foreign minister Ivan Korčok. The latter won the first round by surprising five percent diference. Slovak experts see the elections as crucial to determine the future political path of the country. Project manager of EUROPEUM Institute Kristína Chlebáková commented on the issue for Lithuanian National Radio and Television LRT.

Due to the pro-Russian positions of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, the Czech cabinet suspended the intergovernmental consultations. Does this turn the former brothers into enemies? Nonetheless, this is not the first time that relations between these two nations, that used to share a common state once, have frozen. Viktor Daněk, deputy director of the EUROPEUM Institute, commented on the topic in an investigative piece for 168 hodin broadcast by Czech Television.

In Slovakia, Robert Fico is preparing changes to criminal law that could seriously undermine the functioning of democracy and the rule of law. In particular, the planned abolition of the Office of the Special Prosecutor is a cause for concern. Our project manager Kristína Chlebáková assessed the situation for E15.

What could Robert Fico's return to the head of Slovakian government mean for the European Union? Žiga Faktor, director of our office in Brussels, commented on the topic on Saturday for the Slovenian newspaper DELO.

Kristína Chlebáková, our project manager, commented in an article for Deník N on the upcoming parliamentary elections in Slovakia. The elections will take place at the end of September and may change the foreign policy orientation of Slovakia. Some political parties, including the biggest favourite, former Prime Minister Robert Fico's Smer - Social Democracy party, are campaigning on refusing aid to Ukraine, being friendly to Russia and attacking the EU and the US.

A new international analysis points to the Czech Republic as a leader of liberal values in Central and Eastern Europe. Twice as many people trust the President than last year, when Miloš Zeman was still head of state. The analysis was prepared by Globsec, a prestigious think tank based in Bratislava. Our senior Research Fellow Klára Votavová also commented on the issue.

Tatiana Mindeková, our project manager and junior researcher, wrote a blog named “How do Czech and Slovak governmental parties perceive the EU Green Deal? Online monitoring of Facebook posts”. In this blog, Tatiana analysed approaches of Czech and Slovak parliamentary parties to the European Green Deal and identified whether the parties and their representatives are supportive or critical towards it.

Our senior researcher Jana Juzová wrote an article for VISEGRAD/INSIGHT on "The Czech Republic and Slovakia in the lead". Since July, the Czech Republic has held the presidency of the EU Council and Slovakia the presidency of the Visegrad Four. Although the V4 is now in the shadow of Czech and Slovak foreign policy, this does not mean that it is less important or that it is falling apart. However, the V4 crisis triggered by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán may be an opportunity for the Czech Republic and Slovakia to determine the direction of the Visegrad Four.

We would like to invite you to a national workshop on CCS, where the national CCS roadmap will be publicly presented for the first time. On Thursday, June 23 between 2:00 and 3:30 p.m.

Talking Europe(um) is a podcast which comments on current issues in the European Union. List of episodes, as well as information about where you can listen to the podcast, is in the article.