Slovakia.

[TsarSamuil]

Slovakia to vote on same-sex marriage ban.

AFP news agency
Feb 5, 2015



Slovakia will hold a referendum on Saturday on whether to maintain a ban on same-sex marriage in the largely Roman Catholic country.

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Slovakia: Citizens head to polls in anti-gay marriage referendum.

RuptlyTV
Feb 7, 2015



Slovakian citizens filled a polling station in Bratislava on Saturday, to vote in a national referendum to block marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples. With the Catholic Church backing the vote against increasing rights to same-sex couples, Slovakia may become one of the first European Union members to take a conservative turn towards gay rights legislation.

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[TsarSamuil]

Slovak referendum failed to strengthen ban on gay marriage.

English.news.cn 2015-02-08 19:57:10

BRATISLAVA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The referendum that would have strengthened the country's ban on gay marriages failed as the turnout reached only 21.4 percent, the Slovak statistics office announced Sunday.

According to the office, only 21.4 percent of the country's 5.4 million eligible voters came to the polls, far below the required 50 percent for legislative changes.

The referendum featured three questions: the status of marriage as a unique bond between a man and a woman was backed by 94.5 percent; rejecting the right of same-sex couples to adopt and raise children was supported by 92.4 percent; and the right of parents to decide whether or not their children should attend classes dealing with sex education and euthanasia was backed by 90.3 percent.

It was the eighth referendum in Slovak history. Only one has been declared valid so far -- on Slovakia's joining the European Union.

[TsarSamuil]

rt.com/news/268615-slovakia-islamization-protest-arrested/

‘Slovakia to Slovaks’: Thousands join anti-Islamization protest in Bratislava, dozens arrested (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

RT.com
June 20, 2015 20:36


A policeman stands in front of participants of an anti-immigration rally organised by an initiative called "Stop Islamisation of Europe" and backed by the far-right "People's Party-Our Slovakia" on June 20, 2015 in Bratislava, Slovakia. (AFP Photo/Vladimir Simicek) A policeman stands in front of participants of an anti-immigration rally organised by an initiative called "Stop Islamisation of Europe" and backed by the far-right "People's Party-Our Slovakia" on June 20, 2015 in Bratislava, Slovakia. (AFP Photo/Vladimir Simicek)

At least 140 people have been arrested in Slovakia’s capital, where thousands gathered for an anti-immigration and anti-Islamization rally, according to local media reports. The march turned violent as protesters scuffled with police.

The march was organized by the Alternativna cesta group via Facebook. It was called to protest against Brussels’ proposal to tackle the influx of migrants to the EU by imposing compulsory national quotas that require EU countries to accept a specific number of new migrants, most of whom arrived in Italy or Greece.



Slovak media say the march drew thousands of protesters, while the Facebook page for the event claims that about 14,000 people took part in the rally.

The activists, who said they are against the ‘Islamization of Europe’ and migrants from the Middle East and Africa, were chanting slogans like “Slovakia to Slovaks,” “Stop Islamization in Europe; Together Against dictate of Brussels; Europe for Europeans!”

Some of the banners read “Slovakia is not Africa.”


Participants wave flags and hold a banner reading "Slovakia is not Africa" during an anti-immigration rally organised by an initiative called "Stop Islamisation of Europe" and backed by the far-right "People's Party-Our Slovakia" on June 20, 2015 in Bratislava, Slovakia. (AFP Photo/Vladimir Simicek)Participants wave flags and hold a banner reading "Slovakia is not Africa" during an anti-immigration rally organised by an initiative called "Stop Islamisation of Europe" and backed by the far-right "People's Party-Our Slovakia" on June 20, 2015 in Bratislava, Slovakia. (AFP Photo/Vladimir Simicek)

“We had a lot of bad experience with Muslims… This [rally] is probably the last chance to stop Muslim invasion,” one of the protesters told Ruptly.

At least 1,500 police officers maintained order during Saturday’s march. However, the event did turn violent as protesters damaged police cars and attacked spectators at a cycling race, Reuters reported.

Some participants threw stones and smoke bombs at police, Slovak Topsy website reported, adding that at least five people were injured in the clashes. Police, in turn, used tear gas against two of the protestors.

The participants of the anti-Islamization rally reportedly clashed with members of a counter-protest who were marching with placards showing a crossed out swastika, according to Ruptly.

Dozens of people have been arrested. According to Reuters, police detained at least 60 people, while local Topsy cited a law enforcement spokesperson who said that about 140 protesters had been arrested.

The European Commission (EC) is planning to resettle about 40,000 people from Italy (24,000) and Greece (16,000) in 23 EU member states within the next two years.

In May, the EC published a proposal detailing how it plans to achieve this. According to the document, Slovakia will have to host 785 new migrants, mainly of Syrian or Eritrean origin. Of this total, 471 will be resettled from Italy and 314 from Greece.

However, the decision of EC was view skeptically by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who said that it is “a very risky endeavor.”

“We won’t shirk responsibility or European solidarity and we won’t call for the barricades,” he said. “We’ll be filing objections and seeking the most agreeable solution for all parties involved.”

[TsarSamuil]

I doubt they are neo-Nazi, this is probably RT being too liberal..they seem like a good group according to their views, methinks

Neo-Nazis elected to Slovakian parliament for the first time.

RT.com
6 Mar, 2016 13:28



A Neo-Nazi party named ‘Our Slovakia’ has gained 14 parliamentary seats in Slovakia’s elections, taking its place at the National Council for the first time.

The far right extremists scored 8 percent in an election that failed to produce a majority result.

The ruling, leftist, Smer-Social Democracy party, headed by Prime Minister Robert Fico, won the election with 28.3 percent of the vote, or 49 seats, but are left scrambling for coalition partners to form a majority government.

Fico, who campaigned on an anti-immigration ticket, told reporters building a government would take time as the election results were “very complicated”.

“As the party that won the election, we have the obligation to try build a meaningful and stable government,” he said.

The result marks a significant drop in support for Fico’s party who took 44.4 per cent of the vote in 2012 and sees the return of the ultra-nationalist Slovak National Party.

However, the most notable addition to the new parliament is Marian Kotleba’s far right People’s Party, Our Slovakia, which is anti-EU and considers NATO a terrorist organization.

Data from a Radio Expres exit poll suggests a large portion of the party’s vote came from young people, mainly first-time voters, with almost a quarter of the that demographic casting their ballot for Kotleba’s party.

The Smer Party has made it clear that they would not negotiate with Kotleba in coalition talks.

Remarking on Kotleba's success in the elections, Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak said that "the perception of Slovakia in Europe will be complicated”. “We have elected a fascist to Parliament," Lajcak is quoted by AP.

Chairman of the party, Kotleba claims more than 6000 people across 35 cities attended their election meetings. He told Plus Jeden Deň that he was satisfied with the results, but not surprised.

Deputy party chairman, Rastislav Schlosár, said their “entry to the National Council marks a historic step, which began the struggle for the liberation of Slovakia and the restoration of sovereignty of the parliament”.

Kotleba was elected governor of Banska Bystrica in 2013 and sparked headlines when he displayed a banner from his office window stating "Yankees, go home," and "Stop NATO.", according to AP.

He was also chairman of the banned neo-Nazi Slovak Togetherness-National Party, which organized anti-Roma rallies and expressed sympathy for the Slovakian Nazi-puppet state during World War II. He was charged with hate crimes, but they were later dropped.

A protest has been organised to take place Monday, March 7 in reaction to the election results, according to The Slovak Spectator.

[TsarSamuil]

Slovakia: Night Wolves arrive in Nitra to conclude Slavic World bike tour.

Ruptly TV
Jul 5, 2016



Bikers from the Russian Night Wolves motorcycle club arrived in the Slovakian town of Nitra, Tuesday, to conclude their "Slavic World 2016" bike tour.

[TsarSamuil]

‘Dirty prostitutes’: Slovak PM lashes out at journalists when faced with corruption questions.

RT.com
24 Nov, 2016 10:11

Slovakia’s prime minister lashed out at journalists questioning him about allegations that his government broke public procurement rules during the country’s EU presidency, calling the reporters “dirty anti-Slovak prostitutes.”

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico did not mince words when responding to tough questions posed by journalists at a Wednesday press conference.

“Some of you are dirty, anti-Slovak prostitutes, and I stand by my words,” he said. “You don’t inform, you fight with the government.”

The blunt statement was in response to questions regarding recent claims by former foreign ministry staffer Zuzana Hlavkova, and anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International, that the Slovakian government broke public procurement rules in organizing cultural events tied to the country’s ascension to the European Union Council presidency.

Those allegations were revealed during a Monday press conference held by Hlavkova and the watchdog.

At the event, Hlavkova – who was part of a foreign ministry team tasked with organizing cultural events to mark the country’s presidency – accused her superiors of pressuring her into overlooking public procurement rules while organizing a February ceremony to unveil the presidency’s logo, claiming she was made to work with an events agency close to Fico's left-wing Smer party.

She went on to claim that a concert marking the start of Slovakia's presidency in July was organized without public procurement, and that the cost of organizing the event had been set higher than required.

Transparency International wrote on its website that “feigned public procurement” is a crime, adding that it has asked three Slovakian watchdogs to look into the case – the public procurement bureau, anti-monopoly bureau, and supreme audit office.

The watchdog has also called on former Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak to make all documents pertaining to Slovakia’s EU presidency public, and demanded the return of misspent money, Euronews reported.

Fico claimed during the Wednesday press conference that the allegations are aimed at smearing Slovakia’s EU presidency, which ends in December.

Speaking at the same event, Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak also rejected the allegations.

“Everything was in line with the law, and the budget allocated for the presidency won’t be even fully spent,” he said.

The Wednesday incident was not the first time that Fico – who has long had a tumultuous relationship with the media – has used a prostitute analogy to describe reporters.

In 2008, the leader attacked several Slovak news outlets, asking them to “stop behaving like prostitutes,” in their coverage of a story about a pension fund.

[TsarSamuil]

George Soros denies trying to interfere in Slovakian politics after journalist's murder.

BILLIONAIRE financier George Soros is making waves again after being accused of meddling in Slovakian politics and trying to destabilise the country.

Express.co.uk
By SIMON OSBORNE - 08:22, Wed, Mar 7, 2018



Prime Minister Robert Fico claims the controversial Hungarian influenced President Andrej Kiska before he made a speech calling for significant changes to the Slovakian government following the recent murders of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee.

Mr Kiska said there was no way back for the government after the pair were shot dead in their home near Bratislava on February 25.

He said: “There's a huge public distrust of the state.

"And many don't trust law enforcement authorities.

“This distrust is justified. We crossed the line, things went too far and there's no way back."

The president said he would host talks with the leaders of Slovakia's political parties to discuss his proposed government shake-up.

He said: “I can see two solutions: a profound change to government or early elections.”

But Mr Fico claims the President’s speech and calls for reform had been heavily influenced by Mr Soros.

Mr Soros rejected the claims. A spokesman for his office said: “Mr Soros played no role in President Kiska’s recent speech nor in recent demonstrations in Slovakia.”

He confrmed Mr Soros and Mr Kiska met last September when they discussed better integration for the Roma community in Slovakia.

A spokesperson for Mr Kiska said: “Deflecting attention with conspiracy theories doesn’t release the prime minister from his duty to solve the deep political crisis or to make space for somebody else who can.”

Several top Slovakian officials have stepped down since Mr Kuciak’s death and the subsequent release of his draft report alleging tlinks between the Italian mafia and businessmen and politicians in Slovakia.

Mr Fico is not the only European leader to target Mr Soros.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is engaged in an ongoing feud with the Budapest-born businessman, which has included a government campaign of billboards.

Mr Soros was also widely criticised after private meetings with a European Central Bank director to argue for closer eurozone integration were seen as yet another attempt to meddle in EU affairs.

News of the meetings emerged after the 87-year-old pledged around £500,000 to anti-Brexit causes.


Slovakian President Andrej Kiska

[TsarSamuil]

Slovak PM resigns, deputy PM tasked to form gov't.

BRATISLAVA, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) resigned from his post on Thursday.

According to the reports by local news agency, Fico has handed over his resignation to President Andrej Kiska.

Fico's Government resigned as well, with the ministers keeping their posts until a new cabinet is appointed.

Meanwhile, President Kiska has tasked Deputy Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD) with forming a new government.

Pellegrini has already delivered to President Kiska signatures from 79 MPs supporting the new government earlier in the day.

Fico decided to step down from his post after a two-week coalition crisis that emerged following the murders of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend Martina Kusnirova.

In the crisis triggered by the murders, Marek Madaric was the first to resign on the post of culture minister, followed by Robert Kalinak who resigned as the interior minister a week later.

But Fico will remain the Smer-SD chairman.

[TsarSamuil]

Slovak President Appoints Peter Pellegrini as New Prime Minister.

BRATISLAVA (REUTERS) - Slovak President Andrej Kiska appointed Peter Pellegrini as prime minister on Thursday to end a political crisis touched off by the murder of an investigative journalist that led to mass protests and the resignation of veteran leader Robert Fico.

In Slovakia's biggest protests in three decades of democracy, tens of thousands have taken to the streets demanding a new government and a fair investigation into last month's killing of Jan Kuciak, 27, who probed fraud cases involving businessmen with political ties.

The ruling Smer party picked Pellegrini, a 42-year-old deputy prime minister, to replace Fico and keep the three-party government afloat midway through its term.

It also chose non-partisan Tomas Drucker to head the Interior Ministry and meet the demands of the protesters and of President Kiska to install a person who can secure an independent investigation into the killing of Kuciak.

Kiska had rejected Pellegrini's first interior minister nominee and said on Wednesday he was not entirely satisfied with the proposed cabinet but had reached the limit of his presidential powers.

Many Slovaks do not believe that Pellegrini, hand-picked by Fico, and Drucker will safeguard a fair investigation of Kuciak's murder while the Smer party, often a target of the reporter's investigative journalism, remains in power.

Protest organizers plan another demonstration on Friday, the fourth week in a row.

[TsarSamuil]

She better loose 2nd round, she is a vile liberal traitor that will destroy the country

Slovakia: pro-EU Zuzana Čaputová wins first round of presidential election.

Reuters in Bratislava
Sun 17 Mar 2019 02.07 GMT

Anti-corruption campaigner secures 40% and will face run-off with ruling Smer party candidate

An anti-corruption campaigner with no experience of public office has won the first round of Slovakia’s presidential election, as voters spurned the ruling Smer party a year after the murder of an investigative journalist.

Environmental lawyer Zuzana Čaputová won 40.5% of the vote, with 99.4 of the ballots counted on Sunday, far ahead of the Smer candidate, Maroš Šefčovič, who had 18.7%.

The pair will now contest a second-round run-off on 30 March.

The 45-year-old Čaputová, a pro-European liberal who belongs to the small, non-parliamentary Progressive Slovakia party, would stand out among the populist nationalist politicians on the rise across much of Europe.

Slovakia’s president does not wield day-to-day power but has veto power over the appointments of senior prosecutors and judges, pivotal in the fight against corruption.

“I see a strong call for change in this election following the tragic events last spring and a very strong public reaction,” Čaputová said on Saturday. “We stand at a crossroads between the loss and renewal of public trust, also in terms of Slovakia’s foreign policy orientation.”

The killing in February 2018 of Ján Kuciak, who reported on fraud cases involving politically connected businessmen, triggered the biggest anti-government protests in Slovakia since communism ended three decades earlier. It also led to the resignation of then-prime minister and Smer leader Robert Fico.

Fico’s government remains in power, but Smer’s popularity has slumped. On the first anniversary of Kuciak’s murder, thousands of Slovaks rallied to protest against what they see as a lack of government action on the corruption he uncovered.

The murder of Kuciak and his fiancee is still under investigation. The biggest breakthrough to date came just two days before the vote, when special prosecutors said they had charged businessman Marián Kočner, a subject of Kuciak’s reporting , with ordering the murder.

[TsarSamuil]

Slovakia's first female president hails victory for progressive values - Zuzana Čaputová campaigned on platform of ‘humanism, solidarity and truth’

theguardian.com
Shaun Walker, central and eastern Europe correspondent
Sun 31 Mar 2019 16.33 BST

The woman who has been elected Slovakia’s first female president said her victory showed “you can win without attacking your opponents”, after fighting a positive campaign based on progressive values and political reform, and providing a rare moment of hope for liberal politics in central Europe.

Zuzana Čaputová, a 45-year-old lawyer and anti-corruption campaigner, won 58.4% of the votes in Saturday’s poll and will take office in June.

A political outsider who was polling in single figures a few months before the vote, her campaign used the slogan “Stand up to evil”, but she eschewed personal attacks on her opponents and has spoken of the importance of the values of “humanism, solidarity and truth”.

“Let us look for what connects us. Let us promote cooperation above personal interests,” she told a crowd of supporters in Bratislava. “I am happy not just for the result, but mainly that it is possible not to succumb to populism, to tell the truth, to raise interest without aggressive vocabulary.”

Prior to her surprise entry into politics, Čaputová was a civil activist best known for blocking a planned landfill site in her home town in 2016. She also played a role in anti-government protests that broke out after the murder of the investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee, Martina Kušnírová.

After topping the first round of voting two weeks ago, she comfortably won the run-off against Maroš Šefčovič, an EU energy commissioner backed by the governing party Smer, an ostensibly centre-left grouping that has increasingly used rightwing populist rhetoric over recent years.

Šefčovič said during the campaign that he wanted to appeal to voters “who insist that Slovakia remain a Christian country”, an attack on Čaputová’s liberal views on LGBT rights and abortion legislation.

However, he was magnanimous in defeat, saying he had called Čaputová to congratulate her and also planned to send flowers. “The first female president of Slovakia deserves a bouquet,” he said.

Across central Europe, liberals have struggled to counter rightwing messaging from governments on migration and social issues. However, Čaputová’s message resonated, especially in Bratislava and other cities, tapping into a frustration with career politicians among a young, well-educated demographic.

“It shows that liberals should stay liberal, and not fight propaganda with propaganda. It shows what you can do with a high-quality candidate and a good, positive campaign,” said analyst Balazs Jarabik of the Carnegie Endowment.

However, he cautioned that Čaputová’s victory came on a low turnout of just over 40%, and that European elections in May and parliamentary elections next year may see a very different result.

Previously, discontent with traditional politicians in Slovakia has led to populist and extreme nationalist parties entering parliament. In one region, Banská Bystrica, the neo-fascist Marian Kotleba was elected as a regional governor in 2013, and he garnered 10% of votes in the first round of the presidential race. Another candidate known for his far-right rhetoric, Štefan Harabin, won a further 14% of the vote.

The hope for the region’s liberals is that discontent with the political status quo can be channelled by politicians like Čaputová rather than those of the far right.

“Zuzana Čaputová gives us hope, but the real fight will only come now,” wrote Dennik N, a leading opposition publication, on Sunday.

The presidency has a largely symbolic function in Slovakia, where the prime minister runs the daily business of government, but the president has significant blocking powers, appoints top judges, and is commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

The outgoing president, Andrej Kiska, who has clashed with the government and been regarded as a progressive force in Slovak politics, decided not to run for a second term in office and said he welcomed the election result. “Slovakia is in a moral crisis and needs a president like Zuzana Čaputová,” he told journalists in Bratislava.

Robert Fico, the head of the Smer party and for many years the country’s prime minister, stepped down last year in the wake of massive street protests over the Kuciak murder, but is still regarded as the most powerful politician in the country.

The Kuciak murder shocked Slovakia and threw a spotlight on links between officials and corrupt networks. Police have charged five people, including a millionaire with alleged links to Smer, of ordering the killings. Čaputová has promised to make changes that will strip the police and prosecutors of political influence.

[TsarSamuil]

thank god...

ARGUMENT

The End of Eastern Europe’s Great Liberal Hope.

Slovakia’s progressive president was supposed to spur a regional revival of liberalism—now her party has even failed to qualify for parliament. What went wrong?

foreignpolicy.com
BY PAUL HOCKENOS | MARCH 1, 2020, 7:48 AM

Alittle less than a year ago, the environmental lawyer and feminist Zuzana Čaputová of the newly formed Progressive Slovakia party burst out of obscurity to capture the Slovakian presidency in a thumping victory. Many observers, in Slovakia and abroad, hoped that Čaputová—the country’s first female president and the youngest-ever too at 45 years of age—together with her upstart party, were harbingers of a new political future for Central Europe.

Slovakia had previously been no exception to the region’s corrupt status quo. The country hasn’t gone the path of Hungary or Poland in embracing outright right-wing populism by indulging in ethnic chauvinism or assaults on judicial independence. But its governing party SMER, in power now for the better part of a decade and a half, has long practiced a version of strong-arm, crony-capitalist rule, while cynically joining in the disparaging of migrants and Roma.

But while Čaputová’s popularity has endured since the 2019 election, her Progressive Slovakia party has struggled. As one of over two dozen contesting the parliamentary election on Saturday, Progressive Slovakia failed even to breach the 7 percent hurdle for tickets carrying more than one party. (For the vote, Progressive Slovakia had teamed up with a like-minded Party, Spolu.)

Slovakia’s opposition parties, many of them steeped in the anti-corruption drive, routed the establishment parties. The surprise victor was Ordinary People party (Olano ), an unpredictable center-right party with a rabble-rouser of a leader, the publishing mogul Igor Matovic, which took nearly 25% of the vote. SMER, hurt badly by the corruption and clientelism rampant in its ranks, suffered a resounding defeat, taking only about 18 percent of the vote. The election scenario that had most worried liberals, namely that Slovakia would produce a government on the same page with Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Poland’s Peace and Justice government, is now highly unlikely. The far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) scored much more poorly than feared, with just 8 percent of the vote.

The SMER era is thus finally over – a relief indeed for many Slovaks. But this storming of the Bastille won’t usher in a new era of green-tinged civic democracy. Čaputová will have to deal with an ungainly government coalition likely led by the enigmatic Matovic and his Olano party, which calls upon a quirky conservative populism of its own stripe.

All of this, though, raises the question: what exactly stalled Čaputová’s progressive movement’s momentum?

Progressive Slovakia’s fall cannot be laid at Čaputová’s feet. Slovakia’s presidency is largely a ceremonial post, but Čaputová has made the most of it. From Bratislava’s presidential palace she has touted a “positive patriotism” that prizes government transparency, the protection of Slovakia’s natural landscape, liberal values, and diversity. Čaputová has promoted evidence-based discussion about Slovakia’s most pressing issues – corruption, poverty, and weak institutions, among others – as an antidote to the fear-mongering and conspiracy theorizing of the region’s demagogues. And she went head-to-head with SMER boss Robert Fico over a biased election law, which the constitutional court eventually struck down – a victory for Čaputová.

Čaputová’s election triumph seemed to confirm the ascendance of Slovakian liberals that had started the previous year, when street protests put the mafia murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée on the national agenda. The 27-year-old Kuciak had been writing about graft in Slovakia and ties between the country’s shadowy business moguls and the SMER elite, as well as to Italian organized crime. On the evening of 1 February 2018, a hitman allegedly hired by oligarch Marián Kočner, who Kuciak had been investigating, entered Kuciak’s home and shot the couple point blank.

The killings sparked sustained demonstrations of tens of thousands across the country, aimed not just at receiving justice for the murders but also the rampant corruption of Slovakia’s political class. Tapes and files in Kočner’s possession, presumably material he stockpiled to blackmail politicos and judges, became public, further inciting protest and stirring public rancor. The demonstrations prompted a wave of resignations across the state, including that of the SMER prime minister Fico; his entire cabinet, and many high-ranking figures in the police and judiciary. The gunman, a former soldier, has been tried and sentenced for the assassinations, while Kočner is behind bars awaiting trial on charges of fraud and conspiracy to murder.

The protests fuelled the rise of Progressive Slovakia, founded in 2018 by the NGOs and civic activists at the front of the anti-corruption movement. And less than a year later its candidate Matúš Vallo, an architect and urban campaigner, won the mayorship of Bratislava. Čaputová went on to mount a grassroots campaign focused on fighting corruption and fixing health care.

And in May 2019, Progressive Slovakia ran away with the European Parliament elections, besting even SMER. “I was very optimistic,” says political scientist Aneta Vilagi of the Comenius University in Bratislava. “This was the first time in Slovakia that the total of the democratic parties outweighed that of the nationalists. The majority reflected pro-EU values.”

But the consensus did not hold. Progressive Slovakia’s numbers began to dwindle after the EU vote, not least because yet more new parties emerged from the protests, some of which claimed middle ground that made Progressive Slovakia seem further left by comparison. “Čaputová rode a wave of energy from the street protests into office,” says Zuzana Kepplová, columnist at the Slovak newspaper, SME. “But she didn’t win because she was so liberal or because voters agreed with her all of her positions.” Kepplová says Čaputová’s equanimity, communication skills, and positive demeanor were crucial to her victory.

“Progressive Slovakia has suffered a considerable ‘anti-campaign’ as even the other democratic parties have bashed them for ’extreme liberalism’,” Kepplova told Foreign Policy. Olano, among others, took aim at Progressive Slovakia’s pro-EU position on migration, namely its advocacy for a quota system to relocate asylum seekers among member states. (Čaputová wisely chose to avoid embracing this position in her own presidential campaign.) Even though the country granted political asylum to only five refugees in 2018, the topic of migration remains a third rail of Slovakian politics. On top of all of this, Progressive Slovakia’s current leader, Michal Truban, an anti-corruption activist and digital democracy advocate, isn’t nearly as charismatic as Caputova.

Čaputová, for her part, succeeded in keeping the wild campaign on the tracks, even if her own party failed to build on its own momentum. Her calm voice of reason will be more critical than ever as the coalition building for the new government is certain to test Slovakia’s democratic credentials in new ways.