The Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Javier Zarzalejos (EPP, Spanish), and Sophie Wilmès (Renew Europe, Belgian), head of the European Parliament’s monitoring group on democracy, the rule of law and respect for fundamental values in the EU, gave a mixed picture on Tuesday 3 June of their fact-finding mission to Slovakia, where they were able to meet Prime Minister Robert Fico and members of the Slovak government in a “respectful” atmosphere, which is not always the case, said the Belgian, referring to a recent more tense mission regarding budgetary issues (see EUROPE 13650/19).
They did, however, note problematic trends in the area of the judiciary, freedom of the media and the safety of journalists.
The Spanish Chair of LIBE explained to the press that the three-day mission had shown that the concerns that had notably led the European Parliament, in early 2024, to adopt a resolution on Slovakia (see EUROPE 13389/17) “were not unfounded”. However, he welcomed the government's “willingness” to work with the EU and to continue to engage in dialogue.
Sophie Wilmès detailed the lessons that have been learned from this mission, which also surveyed NGOs, representatives of the justice system, the media and civil society.
“We saw that whether we’re speaking about the judiciary or we speak about the media or even civil society, the rhetoric which has been used from government representatives not only towards people from the opposition [...] is not only very grave as far as I’m concerned, but it has used elements of words which are not accepted even in the political arena. It also is focused sometimes towards the judiciary system, for example calling judges by names when there is a decision which is not accepted, which of course, when you are allowing this in an environment and towards judges for example, you create a climate which is not favourable – not favourable for the balance of power and not favourable for the independence of judges. We have seen the same thing in the media world, which is also sometimes targeted”, said the Belgian MEP.
Regarding justice, the members of the delegation noted “that there is no national anti-corruption strategy”. They also saw the reform of the criminal justice system and the abolition of the Office of the Special Prosecutor as problematic, with the work being spread out over several entities.
The restructuring of the National Crime Agency is another contentious issue, with a “an absence of expertise that is now being felt and is having repercussions on the quality of the whole judicial system”. The statute of limitations has been reduced for cases of corruption, she also noted.
Respect for the principle of the primacy of EU law is another point of concern. “Is Slovakia the next Hungary?” she asked, echoing a question from the local press.
“I cannot answer that question very definitely, but what is sure is that there are a lot of signs that we are seeing that they are taking the same path, which is worrying”, added Sophie Wilmès, although she welcomed “the Slovak government’s willingness to cooperate”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)