In Slovakia, a new criminal law was approved, which dramatically shortens the time of investigation of crimes and reduces penalties to a negligible minimum. It is probably intended to motivate people to commit crimes and to absolve the perpetrators of crimes committed so far. At the same time, the government coalition directly appoints its own people to all institutions, including those that are supposed to be independent of the government and fulfill a control role. Such a position is also the post of the head of the secret information service, where the government, despite the disapproval of the president, will once again assert its person.

At the same time, representatives of the opposition and their family members are prosecuted and accused. These are accusations of “defamation of the nation”, when it was only a criticism of the majority nation in one’s own country. It will be interesting to see when this escalates into criminal charges against journalists. Coalition deputies routinely attack them verbally, and apart from international rules, there is no law in Slovakia that would protect them.

It is interesting how Slovakia, led by the nationalist left, is beginning to resemble the country of our mentally closest neighbors from Hungary. This is the “sovereign” direction of a former democratic country. It is already clear that within six months, democracy in Slovakia, like in Hungary, will be just a word.

This is precisely why the countries with which we have international agreements should vigorously and uncompromisingly enforce compliance with our obligations. The Slovak government, with everything it does, is proving to be an unreliable ally, which, like Hungary, will stick to the EU only for the possibility of drawing European funds. At the same time, together with our southern neighbors, we are a developed country only on paper. International surveys clearly show this.