He is only 31 years old, but his views are crystal clear. We spoke with one of the youngest members of the National Council of the Slovak Republic about the polarization of the Slovak public, the power of the media, the direction of the European Union, and several other topics.
Recent parliamentary and presidential elections have significantly polarized the Slovak public. Why are Slovaks so angry?
I agree that the Slovak public is extremely polarized. However, it’s not just about the outcomes of the parliamentary and presidential elections. To find the real cause, we must look back a few years to the 2020–2024 period, when the cabinets of prime ministers Matovič, Heger, and Ódor were in power. They divided society on issues such as COVID, vaccination, foreign policy, the war in Ukraine, and so on. Anyone who had a different opinion than the government or President Čaputová during this period was immediately labeled a conspirator, hoaxer, extremist, Russian agent... And this still lingers in society; people have not yet come to terms with it. The opposition and so-called liberal media are unwilling to respect the results of the last election and continue to incite people against the SMER government, Prime Minister Fico, President Pellegrini, and generally against any differing opinions.
The campaign “Respecting Different Opinions,” which you recently launched with the head of the government office, Juraj Gedra, and MP Erik Kaliňák (both from SMER – Social Democracy), is supposed to help solve this problem. Its main goal is to foster meaningful discussion, tolerance, and the ability to listen at a societal level. How do you specifically plan to achieve this goal?
When my colleagues and I discussed the issue of tension in society, we realized that after many years of democracy in Slovakia, we are suddenly lacking one of the most important pillars of a democratic society, namely the freedom to express one’s opinion and political conviction. Therefore, we decided to launch a campaign from the position of the government office to remind people of the importance of tolerance and respect for the opinions of others. It is natural to have different opinions on certain matters. But that doesn’t mean we should treat each other like enemies and stop communicating with one another.
Can you mention specific steps that are part of this campaign?
We started with traditional billboards and are now negotiating with the Ministry of Transport to have informational posters appear on trains as well. In the next phase, which should start in September, staff from the Government Office’s strategic communications department will go out into the field and talk to people. They will target high schools and universities, for example, because the polarization is often very pronounced there. We’ll see how it develops, how effective these steps are, and then modify the campaign or supplement it with additional activities.
With head of the Government Office, Juraj Gedra, and Erik Kaliňák, chairman of PM Robert Fico’s advisory board.
This societal polarization has also affected you personally. After the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Fico, you filed charges against a person who had been threatening you for a long time whom the police then arrested. How is this matter developing? Do you know what motive this person had?
He had essentially the same motive as the man who shot Prime Minister Fico – disagreement with the policies of the government and SMER. Immediately after the assassination attempt, he sent me a short video of a cat with a submachine gun with a comment that the same thing that happened to the prime minister would happen to me. The decisive moment for filing charges was when I realized that this person knew where I lived.
This brings us back to what we discussed earlier – the lack of tolerance and willingness to communicate sensibly in the Slovak public.
Yes, that’s right. And I would like to stress that for many years, the so-called liberal media have been spreading this hatred throughout society. When you look at Denník N, SME, or Aktuality.sk, 90 percent of the content is about how bad SMER is, how bad Fico is, how bad the government The issue is whether the media will support people’s ability to think critically and form their own opinions, or if they will present information unilaterally to manipulate people into adopting their viewpoint and believing it to be the only correct one.
But then there are social and alternative media where other opinions are expressed.
Yes, thank goodness for alternative media. However, it also has its limitations. Speaking from personal experience, when I commented on topics like vaccination, the war in Ukraine, and such on Facebook, the system did not block my posts but marked them as “shadowbanned,” reducing their visibility to other users. It is a form of censorship.
A few months ago, the amendment of the criminal code was a big topic in Slovakia, or rather in the Slovak media. What was it about?
Yes, for three and a half years, the opposition was being stamped out in Slovakia, and law enforcement agencies is... By taking things out of context, publishing misleading comments and simplistic conclusions, they manipulate and agitate the entire society, inciting it against the government. And this can result in an individual deciding to resolve the situation by taking up a weapon and shooting the prime minister. This is essentially a global problem nowadays. were being abused for this purpose, as confirmed by thirty findings of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic and rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. Dozens of people were unlawfully detained. Our government responded by amending legal codes – the criminal code and the criminal procedure code. Naturally, the opposition and its media did not like this. The main point was that we abolished the Special Prosecutor’s Office, which was a hotbed of the abuse of criminal law and procedure, the Police Force Act, the constitution, and certain treaties binding the Slovak Republic. We then adopted modern criminal law, where penalties for property and economic crimes cannot exceed those for crimes against individuals’ health and lives, for example. And for property and economic crimes, we finally shifted our focus to the victim – they must be compensated first and foremost for the damage caused by the crime. This was previously not the case. Judges now have much more options in how to handle convicts. Incidentally, the same changes are now being prepared in the Czech Republic.
With hockey player Tomáš Jurčo.
This year marks 20 years since Slovakia joined the European Union. What do you think of the European Parliament election results?
I respect that Progressive Slovakia won, gaining six MEPs. We, meaning SMĚR – Social Democracy, came second with 25 percent, which is a huge success considering that European elections interest mainly people from big cities, where Progressive Slovakia has a strong position. So we have five MEPs. Adding the results of the HLAS-SD and Republika parties, where HLAS has one MEP and Republika has two, we see that parties emphasizing values like the nation, Christian tradition, and social justice ultimately gained more MEPs than the liberals. Common sense ultimately won out, which is great.
Your political party often criticizes the European Union. What specifically bothers you about its current direction?
The key problem now is that the European Union is pouring money into Ukraine instead of trying to get the warring parties to stop fighting and start negotiating. Thousands of people are dying because of this, which is terrible. We oppose the EU’s economic sanctions against Russia because they harm us more than they do Russia. The European economies always relied on cheap resources from Russia. As we can see, Russia finds other buyers for its oil and gas, but for our industry, it’s a disaster. Then there’s the Green Deal, making any industrial and agricultural production in European countries much more expensive than elsewhere. We also disagree with the migration policy. Instead of using its political and economic weight to address problems in the countries migrants come from, the EU is introducing quotas for distributing refugees among member states with a “take a migrant or pay 22,000 euros” approach. Lastly, we have a big problem with the proposal to abolish the right of veto, which is an attempt of the largest EU countries to secure greater influence in EU decision-making. We want Slovakia to remain a sovereign state and an equal member of a voluntary community of European countries. We will not let our country become a vassal to the major EU states.
That’s a lot of issues. Do you believe it will be possible to redirect the European Union in terms of these views?
Although the EU has the European Parliament, most crucial decisions are made by the heads and ministers of the member states. Looking at the political map of Europe, we see that liberal parties currently hold power in most EU countries. They are the ones pushing the Green Deal, the narrative of good Ukrainians and bad Russians, multicultural society, etc. We do not like this narrative, and it seems that many voters are also starting to dislike it. This includes voters in Czechia. I am almost certain that the next parliamentary election in your country will not be won by liberals but by the ANO movement. Similar trends are visible in other EU countries – the Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria... We see that people no longer believe in liberal views and even feel betrayed by their liberal governments. I am convinced that we will see significant changes taking place across Europe in the coming years
RESPECTING DIFFERENT OPINIONS
This is a communication campaign by the Office of the Government of the Slovak Republic, with the primary goal of promoting social harmony. The campaign includes 65 regular billboards and 4 large-scale billboards placed throughout Slovakia and is also active on social media. The associated costs amount to 9,950 euros. “A different opinion is not a mistake or an extreme that needs to be eradicated or censored. It is an achievement of democracy that we must respect. Mutual respect and the willingness to engage in discussions have vanished from society. Today in Slovakia, the prevailing attitude is ‘if I don’t agree with someone, I don’t respect them.’ Instead of respect, we hold others in contempt. But this needs to change,” said Erik Kaliňák, the chairman of the Prime Minister’s advisory board, about the campaign.
