What Slovakia is writing about: Fico wants Vision 2040 with the opposition too. On Constitution Day, Raši opened the debate on a referendum

On the 34th anniversary of the adoption of the constitution, Prime Minister Robert Fico presented the document Slovakia 2040 Vision and called on opposition parties to endorse it. Several reactions did not question the document itself on the merits or even praised parts of it, but the dispute focused on whether this government is the one that can actually deliver it. On the same day, Speaker of Parliament Richard Raši opened a discussion about a referendum and the electoral system. The day’s reporting also included a proposal by Smer and SNS MPs that would introduce a prison sentence for defaming a protected symbol.

Many praise the document, but they do not trust its political presenter

The Slovakia 2040 Vision is a document that, according to media reports, was worked on by around 400 experts under the auspices of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and it rests on four pillars. The prime minister presented it as a non-partisan document, one whose creation politicians did not interfere with, and called on political parties to endorse it. At the press conference he also said that Slovakia is currently experiencing a non-violent civil war and that this document should unite the parties. Aktuality.sk ↗ Hospodárske noviny ↗

What happened next is interesting. In the quoted reactions, the dominant issue was more about implementation and trust in the government than about the substance of the document itself. Denník SME put in its headline that Fico did not say what his government would do for the vision. Denník N’s Newsfilter went further and argues that the vision can only be fulfilled without Robert Fico. Democrats called it a fig leaf for the governing parties, saying voters should decide the future. The Christian Democratic Movement praised the document but refused to see it as a finished government programme. SME ↗ Denník N ↗ SITA ↗ Hospodárske noviny ↗

The call for support was therefore not entirely ignored, but it came in a different form than the prime minister had asked for. Michal Šimečka confirmed that Progressive Slovakia will endorse many of the solutions in the Vision, which is an endorsement of the content without an endorsement of the author. President Peter Pellegrini said he believes the document will find support across the political spectrum and wants it to reach beyond election cycles. Employers grouped in the Republic Union of Employers rated the vision positively, but warned that the document alone will not change the country and must be translated into real economic policy. Hospodárske noviny ↗ SITA ↗ Trend ↗

The sharpest objection came from literary scholar and former dissident Peter Zajac in the weekly .týždeň. In his view, Fico misused the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and the academy is staying oddly silent about it. That is an opinion, not a finding, but it precisely names the tension that ran through the day’s coverage: an institution did the expert work, while the prime minister collected the political dividend from presenting it. .týždeň ↗

Constitution Day brought up the referendum and the electoral system

Speaker of Parliament Richard Raši used the 34th anniversary of the constitution’s adoption to open a discussion about a referendum and the electoral system. At Bratislava Castle, on that occasion, he met former Speakers of the National Council and said that the constitution must never be a tool of momentary political gain. SITA ↗ SME ↗

President Pellegrini rejected rewriting the constitution from scratch and is calling for broader consensus on any changes. A constitutional lawyer quoted by Aktuality says the constitution has holes, needs fixing, and should be protected from politicians. Another lawyer told the same outlet that resetting the constitution will not solve all problems and that we should not have illusions about who would approve a new one. The common thread in the quoted reactions is that the constitutional text may need repairs. They differ on whether, and by whom, those repairs should be made. SITA ↗ Aktuality.sk ↗ Aktuality.sk ↗

Up to prison for insulting the double cross

The same day’s reporting also included a proposal by Smer and SNS MPs intended to strengthen protection of state symbols. According to Pravda, the fine for defaming a symbol would rise to 1,500 euros, the proposal introduces a new criminal offence of defaming a protected symbol, and the MPs are also proposing a new national symbol. Denník N framed the proposal through a specific case and wrote that an artwork with a double cross in the backside could now bring a prison sentence. Pravda ↗ Denník N ↗

The contrast with the previous two sections is the most interesting fact of the day. A day that began with a call for cross-party agreement and a discussion about how to protect the constitution from politicians also brought a proposal by Smer and SNS MPs for a new criminal offence of defaming a protected symbol.

Municipal and regional elections: Kotleba is running for two offices at once

Marian Kotleba announced that in the autumn elections he will run for chairman of the Banská Bystrica self-governing region and at the same time for mayor of Banská Bystrica. He led the region from 2013 to 2017. He told Pravda that enough is enough of Smer people, Progressives and oligarchs. SITA ↗ Pravda ↗

Six candidates are running for mayor of Bratislava, including Transport Minister Jozef Ráž. Bratislava regional governor Juraj Droba read this as a test in an interview with Denník N: according to him, Smer is testing support in the capital through Ráž. Droba also said that after his time in the region, he sees himself in Brussels. In Košice, a situation arose that Korzár described as either a cynical game or a coincidence, when both Ladislav Lörinc and Ladislav Lőrincz are running for mayor. TASR ↗ Denník N ↗ Korzár ↗

Read also: What Slovakia is writing about: The transport minister wants to lead Bratislava. Danko added a list of tenders to the call for Taraba’s departure

State money

Denník E journalists report that the plan for a new nuclear power plant is running into a dispute between Prime Minister Fico and Economy Minister Denisa Saková. This continues a topic we followed in August, when Fico personally took over the nuclear project. Denník E ↗

Transparency International Slovakia pointed out that Igor Matovič is handing out two-hundred-euro grocery vouchers on the streets, but the campaign, it says, is being kept outside the transparent account intended for the autumn municipal and regional elections. The organisation is calling for an investigation, and according to ta3, in a comparison it said that Fico acted more transparently in this regard. ta3 ↗

Under the radar

Denník N described a situation that no one else in our monitored source selection reported: families of people with disabilities can get trapped when they pay for caregiving services and a day care centre at the same time. It is the kind of social issue that easily gets lost in daily political reporting. Denník N ↗

Aktuality mapped out who in Slovakia is behind resistance to wind farms. They described the opponents as figures from the disinformation scene, the far right and populists. Refresher added that links to extremists and politicians helped the leader of the anti-wind movement raise money and may also have influenced government decision-making. Aktuality.sk ↗ Refresher ↗

The third report has a direct European reach. Aktuality reported that Donald Trump’s administration is set to send four million dollars to support conservative media in Europe. Aktuality.sk ↗

What hotinfo is watching

Illustrative photo: Building of the National Council of the Slovak Republic in Bratislava. Author Marc Ryckaert (MJJR), license CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.