What happened in Slovakia in 2023

When President Zuzana Čaputová made her traditional New Year’s Day address on January 1 a year ago, she reminded people in Slovakia that their country turned 30 on that day. The head of state also talked about the growing mistrust, scepticism and polarisation in society. Moreover, she spoke about the collapse of the Eduard Heger government at the end of 2022, resulting from internal conflicts within the ruling coalition that added up to chaos in the country amid several crises, including the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

“For many, the change is associated with concerns about the further development of society. But only what we allow to come will come,” the president said.

In 2023, for the first time, Slovakia eventually witnessed the formation of three different governments, three different men becoming the prime minister. One of these governments was an interim technocratic government, with which Slovakia had had no experience before.

Here’s a run-through of the political and other major events that shaped Slovakia in the past 12 months:

JANUARY

A referendum, initiated by the opposition parties Smer, Hlas and Republika, lures just 27.25 percent (1,163,586) of all eligible voters in Slovakia to the polling stations on January 21. The vast majority answers ‘yes’ to the question that asks if a vote by parliament or a referendum should be enough to trigger a general election. Since a popular turnout of at least 50 percent is required for a referendum to be valid, this vote fails. At the same time, it shows huge support for the opposition.
The Politico magazine writes that President Zuzana Čaputová could become the next NATO Secretary General.
Amid a political crisis, politicians agree on the date of a snap election - September 30. This will be the fourth snap election in the country’s history.
Slovakia’s only aluminium producer shuts down its smelters after 70 years of production.

A billboard promotes the opposition-initiated referendum on snap election in January 2023. (source: SME - Jozef Jakubčo)

FEBRUARY

Former interior minister Robert Kaliňák (Smer) faces a corruption charge, and the opposition party Smer, led by former three-time PM Robert Fico, threatens police investigators dealing with high-profile cases of corruption and organised crime, which lead to previous Smer-led governments. Fico says that he will strip the investigators of their pensions. Kaliňák announces that he will not file a complaint against the filed charge and will instead turn to General Prosecutor Maroš Žilinka to cancel the charge.
Lenka Wittenbergerová, the former head of the tax authority (FS), confesses that she accepted a bribe of €50,000 in a make-up bag. She receives a financial penalty of €50,000 as punishment and a ban on working in public administration for five years.
Smer would win the upcoming parliamentary elections, a Median SK survey from late February shows.
The police start a criminal prosecution in the case of anonymous threats to RTVS journalist Marta Jančkárová.

Slovak director Juraj Jakubisko died in late February 2023, aged 84. (source: Vladimír Šimíček)

MARCH

After the announcement of Volvo investing in eastern Slovakia and the expansion of Volkswagen in Bratislava, Slovakia receives the third billion-dollar investment in the last three years. Originally, Porsche wanted to reinvest a quarter of a billion euros near Horná Streda, western Slovakia. After all, it will be more than a billion euros. The investment in battery modules for electric cars will employ 600 people. Several investments in the production of heat pumps are also announced in 2023.
The first new top hospital opens in Slovakia since the Velvet Revolution (1989). The private hospital in Bratislava-Bory was built by the Penta financial group.
The National Crime Agency charges one of the suspects in the Daniel Tupý case. The suspect has been named in local media as Bratislava lawyer, Adam Puškár. Tupý, a 21-year-old Comenius University student, was stabbed to death near the Danube River in Bratislava on the evening of November 4, 2005.

Pro-Russian protesters face off pro-Ukrainian protesters outside the Presidential Palace in Bratislava on March 6, 2023. A series of pro-Russian "marches for peace" took place around Slovakia in the first half of 2023. (source: SME - Marko Erd)

A fire engulfs Banka Lásky, or Love Bank in English, on the March 18 morning in Banská Štiavnica, central Slovakia. (source: Facebook/Eduard Heger)

APRIL

National Bank of Slovakia Governor Peter Kažimír is guilty of corruption following a decision made by Specialised Criminal Court Judge Milan Cisarik. The government, the parliament, and the president have no option to remove him from office.
Biedronka, the largest Polish supermarket chain, considers opening its first stores in Slovakia.
Slovakia has already handed over all its 13 MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine.
The police charge Dobroslav Trnka, the former head of the General Prosecutor’s Office, with abuse of authority by a public official.
Fifteen years have passed since the disappearance of investigative journalist Pavel Rýpal. He wrote about organised crime. Even after such a long time, it is not known what happened to him.
In Slovakia, it is possible to observe the aurora borealis. (The effect, sometimes known as the northern lights, will be observed in November again.)

(source: Statistics Office)

MAY

The interim agriculture minister, Samuel Vlčan, resigns over a subsidy to his firm. Following the scandal, President Zuzana Čaputová announces that she will remove Heger’s caretaker government and replace it with a ‘government of experts’.
Slovakia gains the first technocratic government in history. It is headed by economist and banker Ľudovít Ódor.
The Specialised Criminal Court finds Alena Zsuzsová guilty of ordering the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak, and prosecutors Maroš Žilinka and Peter Šufliarsky. The panel sentences her to 25 years in prison. Imprisoned businessman Marián Kočner is again acquitted by the court. The Supreme Court will deal with the case for the second time.
The case of the police raid in the Roma settlement in Moldava nad Bodvou, eastern Slovakia, from the summer of 2013, returns to its beginning. However, the case will once again be handled by the same investigator who accused the Roma of false testimony in the past.
Half the people in Slovakia consider the USA to be a security threat similar to Russia, and more than half blame someone other than Russia for the war in Ukraine, the Globsec Trends 2023 survey shows. Russian President Vladimir Putin is perceived positively by more than a quarter of the population.

Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová and French President Emmanuel Macron meet in Bratislava on May 31, 2023. (source: TASR - Martin Baumann)

JUNE

President Zuzana Čaputová announces that she will not run for president again in the 2024 presidential election.
Former judge, ex-president of the Supreme Court and ex-justice minister Štefan Harabin is charged with approving the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. After the outbreak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Harabin wrote on social media that he would do exactly the same as Putin.
Craig Ramsay will continue to coach the Slovak hockey team. The Canadian coached the national team during five championships and two Winter Olympics. The biggest success is the bronze medal from Beijing 2022.
Dušan Dědeček, a drunk driver who killed five people in a traffic accident near the Zochova bus stop in Bratislava in 2022, appears in court. ‘I am guilty,’ he declares right at the beginning of the trial.
The right to pay for the purchase of goods and services in cash will be part of the constitution from July 1, 2023.
Three months before the parliamentary elections, Speaker Boris Kollár (Sme Rodina) is accused by his ex-girlfriend Barbora Richterová of beating her up 12 years ago. Kollár admits that he gave her ‘a few slaps’.
YouTube, the video platform owned by Google, removes several channels associated with the far-right party Republika, citing policy and content violations. Among the deleted channels are ones operated by the alternative media outlets Kulturblog and Konzerva, as well as a fan channel featuring Republika member Milan Mazurek.
President Zuzana Čaputová does not rule out that she will file a disciplinary complaint against General Prosecutor Maroš Žilinka in connection with Section 363 (the general prosecutor can cancel criminal charges anytime). The paragraph itself does not contradict the constitution, the Constitutional Court ruled. But the court did not look at the application of the section by the General Prosecutor’s Office.

The Pohoda festival, near Trenčín, takes place in early July 2023. (source: SME - Jozef Jakubčo)

JULY

The European Commission publishes the annual report on the rule of law, in which it maps the situation in this area in each EU member state. It issues seven recommendations for Slovakia. Among other things, it recommends limiting the power of the general prosecutor to cancel the decisions of subordinate prosecutors (Section 363).
The interim interior minister, Ivan Šimko, is removed from the post due to disputes with the leadership of the police force. On Facebook, Šimko first questioned the work of the police in the case of a mother murdered by her stalker in June after being released from a medical facility. The minister later wrote that the police cannot be independent and must be controlled by politicians. Most of the police officials threatened to resign after Šimko’s comments.
People in central Slovakia threaten to start shooting bears illegally. Over the past six months, bears have attacked people in Slovakia ten times. In the pre-election campaign, several political parties support the shooting of bears. The Environment Ministry does not plan to allow the shooting of bears.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán questions Slovakia’s sovereignty when he called it ‘breakaway territories’.
Former police investigator Marián Kučerka is found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 10.5 years in prison.

Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in July 2023 in Bratislava. (source: TASR)

AUGUST

According to the latest census, up to 71,000 homeless people live in Slovakia.
The General Prosecutor’s Office cancels a corruption charge against ex-interior minister Robert Kaliňák.
During a police raid called Ezekiel 7, the police detain ex-police chief and Smer member Tibor Gašpar and ex-police officer Roman Stahl. Both are charged with corruption, and both are later released from custody. Smer holds several press conferences, at which it repeats that the police, the Special Prosecutor’s Office, the technocratic government and President Zuzana Čaputová try to ‘destroy’ the opposition.
As part of the Unravelling police operation, the police charge several people of being members of an organised crime group that was supposed to sabotage the investigation of corruption cases. Secret service chiefs are also among the charged. In another case, the police charge the head of the National Security Office.
Diplomat and former foreign minister Ivan Korčok announces that he wants to become president. In the campaign, he plans to emphasise cooperation and patriotism.

Songwriter Vašo Patejdl died in August 2023, aged 68. (source: Gabriel Kuchta)

SEPTEMBER

Cross-border migration becomes a topic for politicians less than a month before the elections.
Christian Democratic Movement party leader Milan Majerský comes under fire for his remarks regarding the LGBT+ community.
President Zuzana Čaputová sues Smer party leader Robert Fico. The reason is the lies and fabricated accusations that he constantly spreads about her.
The Conference of Bishops in Slovakia calls on Christians not to vote for political parties that support ‘ideological colonisation’ (abortions and registered partnerships) in the parliamentary elections.
Ukraine promises to withdraw a lawsuit against Slovakia regarding Slovakia’s extended ban on Ukrainian grain, and lift a ban on the imports of Slovak agricultural products to the country.
Parliamentary elections take place on September 30. Smer wins the race.

The Rainbow Pride festival takes place in July 2023. (source: TASR)

OCTOBER

The Czech Republic, Poland and Austria introduce temporary random checks along the entire length of the border with Slovakia. The reason is the increase in the number of refugees arriving in the EU.
Eastern Slovakia is hit by an earthquake.
Smer and Hlas, two of the political parties that will form the next Slovak government in coalition with the ultranationalist SNS party, have been suspended from the Party of European Socialists over their publicly expressed stances.
A group of investigators around Ján Čurilla obtains the so-called protected whistleblower status. In practice, the status of a protected whistleblower means that ‘the employer cannot take any action against the whistleblower that the whistleblower does not agree with, without the authority’s consent.’
Hlas party leader Peter Pellegrini does not rule out that he will run for president in 2024.
President Zuzana Čaputová appoints Smer leader Robert Fico to the post of prime minister. He starts to rule the country for the fourth time. He has been active in politics for 31 years. The coalition of Smer, Hlas and SNS has 79 deputies. Only four MPs ensure its parliamentary majority.
Controversial former general prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka dies at the age of 59.
The new interior minister, Matúš Šutaj Eštok, dismisses Police Chief Štefan Hamran in an insidious way. Soon after, the minister suspends a group of investigators without consulting his move with the Office for the Protection of Whistleblowers.

Slovakia's new government led by Robert Fico. (source: TASR - Martin Baumann)

NOVEMBER

Stopping military aid to Ukraine was one of Smer’s main election promises. Now, Smer only talks about stopping the export of military material from the ‘supplies of the Slovak army’.
The government removes three Judicial Council members from the Council: Katarína Javorčíková, Eva Mišíková and Ľudovít Bradáč. They were appointed by the previous government. Their term was supposed to end in 2026. The three members are not told why they have been dismissed.
A recording published by Smer party leader Robert Fico at a press conference in December 2020, which was intended to discredit prosecutors Ondrej Repa and Michal Šúrek, is manipulated, said experts.
In Ireland, Slovak citizen Jozef Puška is convicted of the 2022 murder of school teacher Ashling Murphy and sentenced to life imprisonment. The case is closely followed by the Irish media.
The government approves its programme for the next four years. It includes the abolition of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, an extra bank levy, higher taxes, and lower penalties for corruption, among other things.
Prime Minister Fico cuts off communication with TV Markíza, Denník N, SME daily and the Aktuality news website, unless they begin to fulfil, he says, their legal obligation of providing truthful, comprehensive and timely information to the public.
The first Slovak battery factory will be located in Šurany. The government signs a memorandum of understanding with Gotion InoBat Batteries.
Exhibited in the Slovak Public Radio building, two kissing men portrayed in a painting by Slovak artist Andrej Dúbravský outrages Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová.

Slovak singer Barbara Haščáková died on November 22, 2023, aged 43.

DECEMBER

The results of 15-year-old Slovak students in the PISA 2022 international testing are tragic, said Education Minister Tomáš Drucker.
NGOs, the European Commission, President Zuzana Čaputová, experts, and the public protest the government’s plans to abolish the Special Prosecutor’s Office and other Criminal Code changes.
The Fitch Ratings agency downgrades Slovakia’s rating upon the deterioration in public finances and the unclear path for their recovery.
Former police chief and Smer MP Tibor Gašpar, and his relative and oligarch Norbert Bödör, face new charges in a new case.
The American steel giant U.S. Steel is changing hands. The company, whose portfolio also includes the Košice steelworks, will be acquired by the Japanese company Nippon Steel Corporation.
After 114 years, lignite mining ends in the Upper Nitra region. During this period, about 500 miners died underground. The Nováky mine is the last one operating of the three mines. The oldest – Handlová mine – closed in 2021 and the youngest, Cígeľ mine in 2017.
Coalition MPs approve the 2024 state budget bill. Next year, the public finance deficit should fall to 5.97 percent of GDP. However, the Council for Budget Responsibility and the Statistics Office question the declared deficit reduction.

Popular Slovak writer Tomáš Janovic died on December 14, 2023, at the age of 86. (source: TASR)

Bratislava welcomes 2024 without fireworks. (source: TASR)