Interior Minister and Hlas chair Matúš Šutaj Eštok in parliament. (source: SME - Marko Erd)
In recent days, billboards bearing the faces of opposition politicians and claiming that they indebted Slovakia have sprung up all over the country. Behind the campaign is coalition Hlas, which launched it after the consolidation package was announced in September, reports Denník N daily.
The package is expected to save €2.7 billion. Thanks to these measures, the public finance deficit is expected to decrease.
Since the package was approved, the party has been trying to convince people that the previous governments of Igor Matovič, Eduard Heger and Ľudovít Ódor are the reason for the bad state of the public finances.
Transparency International Slovakia has criticised the campaign, highlighting that the party has yet to clarify the specifics surrounding its ethically questionable billboards.
What are the claims
Without any evidence and using already disproved claims, the campaign accuses the politicians of causing damages worth billions of euros. At the same time, the campaign website - zadlzilislovensko.sk (Ed. note - literally "They Indebted Slovakia") - states that its content may be fictitious and embellished. The website was founded two days after the package was announced by Creo Advertising, an agency that was behind former Hlas chair and now President Peter Pellegrini's election campaign. Before the election the party claimed that unsuccessful candidate Ivan Korčok was the 'candidate of war', also without evidence.
For example, former defence minister Jaroslav Naď supposedly caused damages worth €2 billion by donating military aid to Ukraine. However, Hlas doesn't mention where the sum comes from. According to the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ), Slovakia donated military material worth €700 million, with part of the money to be returned. Naď has recently questioned the NKÚ report, describing it as incomplete. He asserts that Slovakia stands to gain more value than it has provided in aid to Ukraine.
Former economy minister Richard Sulík supposedly caused €4 billion in damages by increasing energy prices. However, then PM Igor Matovič and Sulík signed a memorandum with electricity producer Slovenské Elektrárne thanks to which Slovak households have cheaper electricity to this day.
Matovič is accused of mismanaging of the Covid-19 pandemic, ultimately causing damages worth €1.6 billion. According to the Central European Digital Media Observatory, the real sum was €586 million.
Coalition voters believe the claims
The daily writes that public finances began to deteriorate in 2015 during the second government of Robert Fico, and the largest year-on-year deterioration occurred in 2019 under the government of Peter Pellegrini.
Nevertheless, Fico managed to convince most of his voters that the need for consolidation can be attributed to other governments. More than 85 percent of coalition voters and the extremist non-parliamentary party Republika believe Fico.
Meanwhile, the opposition party Progressive Slovakia has installed dozens of billboards across the country to evaluate the ruling coalition's performance over the past year. Similarly, Demokrati, led by Naď, has launched a campaign advocating for a referendum on holding snap elections. Unlike Hlas, both parties have clearly identified themselves as the sponsors of their campaigns, ensuring greater transparency.
