Last Week in Slovakia

Last Week in Slovakia is a commentary and overview of news in Slovakia that we send directly in your inbox. Written by Michaela Terenzani, it is published every Monday.

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Last Week: A new man arrives to oversee the propagandists and disinformers

The Russian Embassy in Bratislava is about to get a new boss.

Robert Fico speaks to the Smer congress on October 11.

Last Week: Fico’s mid-term manifesto is a litany of resentments 

Smer intends to leave PES before PES kicks Smer out. 

Andrej Babiš and Robert Fico share a laugh during a joint press conference in January 2018.

Last Week: Things fall apart, but Fico feels emboldened 

The opposition is experiencing serious wobbles, but so is the government.

Smer MPs give themselves standing ovation after they passed Fico's constitutional amendment.

Last Week: High-speed austerity, a constitutional shocker and yet another plagiarist

Friday’s vote produced mayhem in parliament and drove a new wedge into the opposition. 

Last Week: Austerity package has Fico reviving an old sob story

But the public will be watching how much the government will save on itself. 

Slovak PM Robert Fico and Polish PM Donald Tusk in Tatranská Javorina, northern Slovakia last November.

Last Week: How to both-sides a military incursion against a NATO ally

Slovak government ministers can’t quite seem to decide whose side they’re on.

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, centre, and foreign leaders including Russia President Vladimir Putin, centre left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, centre right, walk to Tiananmen Rostrum ahead of a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender in Beijing, China, on 3 September 2025.
Coalition parties chairs from left: Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas), Robert Fico (Smer) and Andrej Danko (SNS).

Last Week: Behind the scenes, a major struggle for Fico’s government

The Finance Ministry has missed its own deadline.

PM Robert Fico, Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák, Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár and Deputy Speaker of Parliament  Tibor Gašpar, all of Smer.
The sweltering heat in the room was not the only reason why minister Šaško needed to mop his brow from time to time.

Last Week: Pressure grows on the health minister over ambulance tender car crash

Fico reprimands his Hlas minister - for bad communication.

Robert Fico

Last Week: Once again, the government’s message is ‘trust nobody’

Not for the first time, Robert Fico attacks Slovakia’s Western partners.

President Peter Pellegrini, accompanied by Smer ministers Blanár and Kaliňák, at the NATO summit in The Hague.

Last Week: Fico the antagonist caters to his voters at home

Foreign partners have been receiving mixed messages from Slovakia, once again. 

Artillery ammunition.

Last Week: Revenge-hungry Smer voters feast on donated ammunition case

Police came to question the former defence minister, but no one was home 

Robert Fico and Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Uzbekistan.

Last Week: From Uzbekistan, with love 

Slovakia’s Constitution may see more changes as Christian Democrats eye Fico’s offer. 

Last Week: Of hired assassins, fake guesthouses and hybrid operations 

Visitors from the European Parliament stir reactions among the ruling coalition. 

Peter Kažimír in court.

Last Week: Central bank governor found guilty, but Fico accuses the judge

For the premier, personal disloyalty is worse than corruption.

Robert Fico embraces Agriculture Minister Richard Takac as he arrives to Handlova.

Last Week: Smer throws a peculiar love-fest on the anniversary of Fico’s attack

At an event supposedly held to fight hate, a lot of blame was being cast around.

Robert Fico meets Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Last Week: Fico went to Moscow and he has a new talking point 

The prime minister wants Russia’s friendship, but anyone who knows history knows what that means. 

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, right, and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán pose for photographers during a round table meeting at an EU Summit in Brussels on March 22, 2024.

Last Week: In Slovakia, disinformation channels are tools of media capture

Robert Fico and his government are living in a symbiosis with them. 

NBS Governor Peter Kažimír.

Last Week: Slovakia’s central bank governor still faces bribery case verdict

A judge decides that the amended Criminal Code does not give Peter Kažimír a pass.