Last Week: Post-attack, authorities treat citizens like unwitting bystanders

Welcome to your weekly commentary and overview of news from Slovakia. Robert Fico’s health has improved and he was sent home, but Slovaks know precious little about their prime minister’s condition. The struggle between newsroom and management continues at TV Markíza. NAKA officers who ran the Purgatory case have now been formally charged.

If you have a suggestion on how to make this overview better, let me know at michaela.terenzani@spectator.sk.

Without information, people resort to guesswork

Robert Fico is well enough to have been released from hospital, but not well enough to appear in public, let alone return to his prime ministerial duties.

This is basically all that people in Slovakia are able to tell about the condition of their prime minister, more than two weeks after an assassination attempt that put his life at risk. While Robert Fico deserves time to recover and privacy during that process, the government that he leads also needs to consider the public’s interest in his condition – in other words, what communication strategy is best for Slovakia and its people at this sensitive time.

If the success of the government’s strategy can be measured by observing how well it manages to staunch the spread of wild guesses and conspiracy theories, the authorities are not doing a great job.

Here's what we know, what we do not know, and why it is problematic.

What we know