Chair of the World Association of Slovaks Abroad, Vladimír Skalský (source: TASR - Martin Baumann)
When Prime Minister Robert Fico addressed an event hosted by the Czech nationalist-communist association Svatopluk at Bratislava’s state-owned Hotel Bôrik on 31 May, one of his headline messages was a call to resume intergovernmental talks with the Czech Republic. Prague had suspended these consultations due to foreign policy differences under Prime Minister Petr Fiala.
But for Slovaks living abroad, it was a different speaker who stirred controversy – Vladimír Skalský, head of the so-called World Association of Slovaks Abroad, whose sceptical remarks on postal voting sparked concern.
“Although I’m one of those expected to defend postal voting as a representative of the diaspora, I must say I don’t believe it can be both secret and secure,” Skalský told the audience – which included three representatives of Slovakia’s coalition government – and added: “It may not even be a dignified solution.”
Skalský suggested the need for a “different model” but offered no specifics.
His comments stood in sharp contrast to recent developments in the Czech Republic, where the Chamber of Deputies in June 2024 approved a law enabling citizens abroad to vote by post in parliamentary, European and presidential elections. In Slovakia, postal voting remains unavailable for presidential and European Parliament elections.
