Viktor Orban (source: AP/TASR)
Welcome to your weekly commentary and overview of news from Slovakia. Slovakia understands Orbán less and less – but ideology like his is becoming increasingly influential here too. The many ways that Slovakia is feeling the pain of climate change. Why trust in President Čaputová is ebbing, and more must-reads from last week.
When the Slovak-born populist Andrej Babiš was defenestrated as Czech prime minister by voters last year, one theory about the Visegrad Group had it that Slovakia and the Czech Republic would come closer together and act as something of an antidote to the illiberal and anti-EU tendencies of Hungary and Poland.
That was in the autumn of 2021, when very few people expected central Europe to find itself at the edge of a warzone within weeks. The Russian aggression in Ukraine has reset diplomatic relationships in the region and left Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán isolated – for now.
