MPs Branislav Gröhling (SaS), Michal Šimečka (Progressive Slovakia), Milan Majerský (KDH), and Michal Šipoš (Slovakia). (source: Jaroslav Novák)
The author is the president of MESA 10 and former minister of finance.
Not long ago, I argued that the main cause of Slovakia’s bleak predicament is the nearly two-decade-long era of Robert Fico – a period marked by irresponsible and incompetent governance. The administrations that briefly interrupted it failed to reverse or fundamentally shift its course.
What is now required to prevent not just complete decline but – I dare say – the potential disintegration of Slovakia’s statehood, independence and prosperity, is not another temporary interruption of the Fico era, but its decisive and lasting reversal. It is clear this will be no easy task.
Credit where it’s due
I remember well how, after 1998, Mikuláš Dzurinda’s first government grappled with the legacy of Vladimír Mečiar’s irresponsible leadership. Today, the situation is even more complex.
Mečiar held power for less than six years following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Fico has governed for 14, and his political era spans nearly two decades.
Back then, the geopolitical and global economic climate was far more favourable. There was no war nearby, no social media fuelling disinformation and division, and Hungarian political parties aligned themselves with the values of liberal democracy.
This is not to alarm or incite fatalism. I write this because I fear Slovakia’s current opposition does not fully grasp the gravity and complexity of the situation. If it did, it would act differently.
