Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár delivering a speech at the "Slovak Republic and Slovaks Abroad 2024" conference at the Foreign Ministry in Bratislava on October 24, 2024. (source: TASR - Pavel Neubauer)
Eight independent UN human rights experts have condemned Slovakia’s deteriorating human rights record in an unusually detailed 16-page letter, Denník N reports.
The warning highlights concerns over civil liberties, LGBT+ rights, media freedom, judicial independence, cultural interference, restrictions on NGOs, limits on public gatherings, and fears of unlawful surveillance. While the UN often raises such issues with governments, letters of this scale are typically signed by just one or two rapporteurs. The breadth of concerns in Slovakia has drawn an unprecedented response from eight independent specialists.
The document, which remains confidential, is addressed to Slovakia’s foreign minister, Juraj Blanár, who received it days after returning from a UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva. Under standard UN procedure, governments are given the opportunity to respond before findings are made public.
The list of signatories of the UN report
Ana Brian Nougrères (Uruguay): Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy.
Alexandra Xanthaki (Greece): Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights.
Ben Saul (Australia): Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism.
Gina Romero (Colombia): Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.
Graeme Reid (South Africa): Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Irene Khan (Bangladesh): Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
Margaret Satterthwaite (USA): Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.
Mary Lawlor (Ireland): Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.
Slovakia’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council could be at risk if these criticisms gain traction. The report, which covers developments since Robert Fico’s government took office in October 2023, warns of a systematic rollback of democratic freedoms. It criticises plans to label foreign-funded NGOs as “foreign agents” and impose heavy bureaucratic constraints on them.
Cultural policy has also come under scrutiny, particularly following staff cuts at state cultural institutions such as the National Gallery. The letter references Culture Minister Martina Šimkovičová’s remark that Slovak culture must be “Slovak and nothing else”.
The experts denounce the defunding of LGBT+ cultural projects and the near-total exclusion of LGBT+ organisations from grant programmes. They also criticise the dissolution of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, which investigated high-level corruption cases, without proper public consultation.
Media freedom is another flashpoint, with criticism of the restructuring of public broadcaster RTVS last year, which placed it under direct political control, as well as smear campaigns against critical journalists and restricted press access.
The letter also rebukes new protest laws, dubbed ‘Lex atentát’, which ban demonstrations within 50 metres of key government and judicial buildings or outside officials’ homes. It warns of increasing harassment of human rights defenders and journalists, as well as the potential misuse of spyware such as Pegasus.
Former Slovak diplomat Mária Krásnohorská said she had never seen such a damning UN report on Slovakia, even under Vladimír Mečiar’s rule in the 1990s. Ex-foreign minister Miroslav Wlachovský (2023) called it a “reputational disaster”, while legal expert Metod Špaček, who was dismissed by the Foreign Ministry under Blanár’s watch, said the breadth of the UN’s criticism makes accusations of bias implausible.
“This is criticism coming from all corners of the world – which is precisely why it cannot be dismissed as biased against Slovakia,” Špaček said, noting that the government appears to be making policy in all directions at once.
The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party has joined criticism of the government after it received a letter from eight UN special rapporteurs.
According to SaS MP Mária Kolíková, the letter shows that criticism is no longer coming only from political opponents. “This government dismissed Transparency International's corruption rankings, ignored a Liberties report on the erosion of the rule of law, and downplayed concerns raised by the European Commission about the controversial Criminal Code amendment. But it cannot dismiss a letter from the United Nations,” she said.
Kolíková urged Prime Minister Robert Fico and Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár to heed the concerns and act accordingly.
Blanár, however, downplayed the significance of the letter, accusing SaS of misleading the public and harming Slovakia’s reputation. He stressed that the rapporteurs are not UN employees and that their letter does not represent the organisation’s official stance.
“They merely requested clarification regarding information they claim to have received. This is not an assessment of Slovakia, nor does it accuse us of human rights violations,” Blanár said, suggesting that the information may have been deliberately framed to paint Slovakia in a negative light.
He added that the government’s task is now to respond factually and clarify the situation.
