Good to have you with us! Here is the latest edition of Today in Slovakia - all the top news from Thursday, wrapped up in one place!
From Putin to Pope Francis
Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) arrives at a government meeting in Bratislava on February 12, 2025. (source: TASR - Jaroslav Novák)
On Valentine’s Day – whether by coincidence or design – Prime Minister Robert Fico will meet Pope Francis in the Vatican, accompanied by his 83-year-old mother.
It will be the second meeting between the Slovak leader and the head of the Catholic Church, the first having taken place in 2017. But this time, Pope Francis will be meeting a different Fico – one shaped by last year’s assassination attempt, driven by a desire for retribution against those who pursued corruption investigations into his past governments after the 2020 elections, and whose rhetoric continues to fuel deep divisions in society.
Unable to resist taking aim at his critics, the prime minister used the occasion to issue a statement directed at the opposition and so-called ‘anti-government media’, announcing that his mother would be part of the delegation and that he would personally cover the cost of her trip. (Fico and his ministers approved salary increases for themselves last year, despite Slovakia’s struggling public finances.) Yet former interior minister Roman Mikulec remains sceptical that Fico will actually foot the bill – unsurprising, perhaps, given the prime minister’s selective approach to transparency. Details of his December visit to Moscow, for instance, remain conspicuously scarce.
Fico has long sought to present himself as a man of faith, boasting in 2014 – when he ran for president – of his “strong Catholic” background and family ties to priests and nuns. “I have received baptism, first communion, confirmation. If I were to profile myself in relation to the Catholic Church, I might rank better than any MP from the Christian Democrats (KDH),” he claimed at the time, hoping to turn his religious credentials into political capital. His communist past, however, was notably absent from his narrative. Former KDH leader Pavol Hrušovský quipped that Fico should “finally undergo confession as well.”
Fico also remains tight-lipped about his private life but is far less restrained when railing against LGBT+ rights, championing so-called “traditional” family values – despite not living in a traditional marriage himself. A satirical website described him in 2023 as “married, with multiple mistresses – one of whom he even employed at the Government Office.” Another mocked his stance with an image captioned “traditional (non-)marriages.”
Pope Francis visited Slovakia in September 2021. (source: AP/TASR)
War in Ukraine: Prime Minister Fico has once again criticised the European Union’s position on the war in Ukraine, claiming the bloc is the second major loser in the conflict after Ukraine itself. On Thursday, Fico shared a photo of himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin (Putin is on the International Criminal Court’s war crimes wanted list.) alongside a statement condemning the EU’s “war-supporting” stance. Drawing a sporting analogy, he likened the situation to a tennis match, suggesting that a Trump-Putin duo would defeat the EU-Ukraine pairing in straight sets: “The presidential pair will win convincingly: 3-0 (6:0, 6:0, 6:0),” he wrote, reinforcing his pro-Moscow leanings. Fico argued that relations between Washington and Moscow are key to ending the war, stating: “In the EU, we should immediately adopt the old truth that the best way to predict the future is to actively shape it. That was the essence of my December meeting with the Russian president.” What kind of future Fico envisions from his talks in Moscow remains unclear. However, he has no doubts about Ukraine’s fate, predicting that a second Trump presidency would demand Kyiv return all the aid provided under Joe Biden. “Trump will force Europe to buy even more gas and oil from the US, and at the end of the day, he will inform NATO allies that unless they dramatically increase their defence spending – perhaps to 5 percent of GDP – they should kindly forget about Article 5,” Fico claimed. According to Fico, Putin would be left with the Ukrainian territory currently under Russian military control and a guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO. As for Ukraine itself, he painted a bleak picture: “It will lose a third of its territory, its natural resources, will never be in NATO, and foreign armies will be stationed on its land.”
MORE STORIES FROM THE SLOVAK SPECTATOR
Girl with a lighter: Teen sets a man on fire, then heads to school as if nothing happened.
Statue heist: Visitors to Kežmarok can no longer admire the 1978 skier statue – it was stolen in just 45 minutes. Here’s what happened.
Employee of the year: A former top court official kept a Justice Ministry job under PM Robert Fico despite fraud charges and illegally occupying a state-owned flat.
Something to investigate: Slovak explorers uncover an ancient cave with mysterious remains. Could this be the fabled sealed-off chamber?
Belarusian band in the Tatras: Molchat Doma return to Slovakia’s brutalist gem, the Panorama Hotel – this time not just for an album cover but for a live set.
Strange meal names: Have you eaten Spanish bird? What about gypsy liver? Slovaks have – and they love them.
3 things to do in Bratislava: Something for design buffs, those seeking stress relief, or anyone up for a hike.
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SLOVAK SCIENCE
Unlocking Earth’s climate past
A brachiopod fossil. (source: Ruben Marchesi)
A Slovak-led research team has uncovered how CO2 shaped Earth’s Late Palaeozoic Ice Age, revealing striking parallels with today’s climate. Read more in Matúš Beňo’s story.
LOSER OF THE DAY
Musician’s offensive comment about MP
PS MP Veronika Veslárová (source: SME - Marko Erd)
Controversial musician Oskar Rózsa – best known recently for his controversial reworking of Slovakia’s national anthem – has sparked outrage with a derogatory comment about Progressive Slovakia MP Veronika Veslárová. Posting on Telegram in early February, Rózsa questioned what Veslárová, who uses a wheelchair, had done for people with disabilities, adding: “Apart from gaining weight.” The post was later deleted, and Rózsa issued an apology: “Veronika, please forgive me. My post was unacceptable and insensitive. My fingers were quicker than my brain and heart.” He subsequently deleted the apology as well. Veslárová responded by highlighting her long-standing advocacy for people with disabilities, stating that she has spent 15 years working as a lawyer in the field and, as an MP, has introduced multiple legislative proposals aimed at improving their rights and conditions.
IN OTHER NEWS
While Smer’s voter base remains relatively stable, Hlas is haemorrhaging support. In the 2023 election, the party – then led by Peter Pellegrini – secured 436,000 votes. Now, under Matúš Šutaj Eštok, only 220,000 of those voters say they would back it again. The biggest shift has been towards non-voters, with 100,000 former Hlas supporters now undecided or disengaged. Meanwhile, around 40,000 have switched to Progressive Slovakia rather than Smer. Since September 2023, voters of the third coalition party, SNS, have deserted SNS chair Andrej Danko in various directions. Of the party’s 167,000 voters, only 50,000 now say they would vote for it again. (Denník N)
A recent survey by Focus for the Slovak Government’s Office for Roma Communities found that 33 percent of respondents in Slovakia openly express negative attitudes towards Roma, while only 5 percent hold positive views. The majority - 61 percent - remain neutral. The most critical responses came from residents of eastern Slovakia and the Bratislava Region.
Slovakia’s economic growth is expected to slow slightly this year to 1.9 percent, down from 2 percent in 2023. The main drivers will be increased domestic demand and faster utilisation of over €2 billion from the recovery plan. However, necessary fiscal consolidation, given the poor state of public finances, will temporarily weaken the economy, shows the latest macroeconomic forecast published on Thursday by the Council for Budget Responsibility.
Eggs will not be included in the list of foods with reduced VAT, the Finance Ministry says, citing fiscal consolidation. (Markíza)
Slovakia's tourism establishments welcomed 5.9 million guests in 2024. However, the sector has yet to fully recover from the pandemic, remaining 8 percent (516,000 guests) below the record-breaking 2019 figure of 6.4 million visitors. Despite this, 2024 was the second most successful year in Slovak tourism history. (source: Statistics Office)
In 2024, Slovakia paid over €46 million in housing support for more than 48,000 Ukrainian refugees, said the Interior Ministry.
President Peter Pellegrini has highlighted a key question ahead of the Munich Security Conference – what role, if any, the EU will play in efforts to bring peace to Ukraine. Departing for Munich on Friday, he will join discussions at the 61st edition of the conference, which will focus on global security challenges, including the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Gas deliveries to Ukraine via Slovakia have risen by nearly 60 percent since operations began last week. On Thursday, 124,320 megawatt-hours (MWh) or 11.7 million cubic metres (m³) of gas were set to flow through Slovakia, up from 78,000 MWh (7.3 million m³) on Monday. The data comes from Eustream, Slovakia’s gas transmission system operator.
Slovak cinemas attracted 5,435,556 viewers in 2024, an 8.33 percent increase compared to 2023. However, attendance remains 16.75 percent lower than in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. A total of 224,203 screenings generated €38,663,404 in revenue. Slovak films performed particularly well, drawing 1,498,508 viewers throughout the year. The top five most-watched films in Slovak cinemas in 2024 were Inside Out 2, MIKI (SK), Kavej (SK), Despicable Me 4, and Jedeme na teambuilding (SK).
FRIDAY WEATHER BRIEFING: Clouds will dominate the sky for most of the day, with a few rare clear spots appearing by evening. Snow is on the menu for many places, though the west might get away with just a flurry. Lower areas could see some rain, and there’s a chance of icy roads and drifting snow. Temperatures will hover between 2°C and 7°C, but in the Žilina Region, Spiš, and parts of the far west, expect a chilly 0°C. In the mountains at 1,500 m, it’ll be around -4°C, dropping to -8°C in the north. The wind? Just a whisper. (SHMÚ)
Tri Koruny peak in Červený Kláštor, northeastern Slovakia, January 29, 2025. (source: TASR - Veronika Mihaliková)
PARTY TIME: February 14 is Valentín’s special day, so if you happen to know one, don’t forget to send him your warmest wishes. Všetko najlepšie! (And to the rest of you – Happy Valentine’s Day)
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