Analysis
Economy & Tech
Ukraine’s Reconstruction: A Second ‘Big Bang’ for European Business?
5 November 2024
Robert Fico and his cabinet remain in control of the judicial overhaul despite obstruction from the opposition and protests in the streets of Slovak cities and towns.
The very short answer to the title question is no. Protests in Slovakia are unlikely to change Robert Fico and his cabinet’s resolve to push ahead with legislative changes to the judiciary and criminal code.
Fico’s Smer-led cabinet – which combines a blend of populism, social conservatism and nationalism – holds a key advantage which makes it more likely that they will achieve their goal of dismantling the Special Prosecutor Office and thus bend the police and judiciary to their will.
Despite the spread of protests outside Slovakia’s liberal capital, Bratislava, and into regional cities and towns, the Smer-led cabinet still holds a narrow majority in the National Council (Parliament).