Nicolas Suran, Ambassador of the French Republic, meets Ivan Fiačan, President of the Slovak Constitutional Court, during a visit to the court on 19 March 2025 to discuss its role and powers. (source: Facebook - Slovak Constitutional Court)
Prime Minister Robert Fico has criticised the United Kingdom and several European countries for holding meetings with Slovakia’s Constitutional Court, prompting an unusually strong response from the court as it reviews a contentious law on non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
At a press conference on Tuesday, Fico questioned why ambassadors from the UK, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France had met Constitutional Court judges earlier this year, arguing that the visits were inappropriate even though most took place before the court began reviewing the NGO law.
“Can you imagine me sending our ambassador in Germany or elsewhere to ask for a meeting with the president of their constitutional court?” Fico said. “It is laughable to claim these ambassadors were only discussing the court’s competencies or how many judges it has. We know what the discussions were about.”
The prime minister further questioned the official account of the meetings, insisting that the real topic of discussion was the NGO law.
“We know they were pressing the Constitutional Court to declare this law unconstitutional under any circumstances,” Fico said, adding that the ambassadors had also asked about planned constitutional amendments.
The Constitutional Court issued a rare public statement rejecting the prime minister’s comments as “false and unfounded”, warning that they represented “a serious and unacceptable interference with the impartiality and independence of the judiciary”.
“The Constitutional Court does not communicate with anyone outside the legal process about cases it is adjudicating,” the statement said. “Such statements undermine the fundamental principles of Slovakia’s constitutional order.”
Ivan Fiačan, President of Slovakia’s Constitutional Court, welcomes UK Ambassador Nigel Baker during a visit to the court in Košice on 16 January 2025. (source: Facebook - Slovak Constitutional Court)
The court in May accepted for review a petition by opposition MPs challenging the constitutionality of the NGO law, though it refused to suspend its implementation. The legislation, passed in April and signed by President Peter Pellegrini, introduced new reporting requirements and oversight mechanisms for NGOs, which the government says are designed to improve transparency.
Opposition parties and civil society groups have condemned the measure as discriminatory and unnecessarily burdensome. Although earlier drafts contained provisions labelling groups receiving foreign funding as “foreign agents” and classifying advocacy as “lobbying”, those clauses were removed before the law was passed. Critics argue that the remaining provisions still impose excessive administrative demands on non-profits and infringe on donor privacy.
Progressive Slovakia, the liberal opposition party that filed the petition, has said the law threatens constitutional rights and democratic principles.
