By Ishtwan Kemal
21/12/2025
The things that happened in Slovakia were not just random. They were a plan to get revenge. The people in charge, Robert Fico and Robert Kaliňák, wanted to break down groups that might have been a threat to them. A pre-planned scenario is being used to systematically destroy anti-corruption mechanisms.
The replacement of the independent Office for the Protection of Whistleblowers with a body that is under the direct control of the government means that integrity will effectively be criminalised. The state is showing that corruption is dangerous. If you want to survive in the public sector, you must be loyal to the authorities.
It has been explicitly stated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the European Commission that the new legislation contradicts the acquis communautaire and undermines the ability to investigate financial crimes. The EU is currently engaged in a legal dispute with Slovakia, which has opted for a model of “sovereign corruption” instead of adhering to European standards.
The dissolution of the Special Prosecutor’s Office, which investigated cases involving individuals from Fico’s inner circle, is a prime example of state power being used to obstruct justice. This is not reform; it is political amnesty for corrupt elites.
Reducing penalties for financial crimes and shortening statutes of limitations creates a favourable environment for large-scale abuse. Rather than being a risk, corruption becomes a rational strategy with minimal consequences.
The court convicted Slovak National Bank Governor Peter Kazimir for bribery without his resignation, demonstrating a complete disconnect between justice and political accountability. This shows the whole bureaucracy that even if you are convicted in a court of law, it is not the end of your career if you are “one of them”.
Fico’s public attacks on judges are not just emotional outbursts; they are a strategy designed to exert pressure. The aim is to make the judiciary look illegitimate, to make people afraid and to stop the ruling elite being convicted in future.
A score of 49 out of 100 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index is not just a number, but a diagnosis that should be taken seriously. Slovakia is quickly diverging from the EU average (65 points) and is on the verge of joining the group of states that are characterised by systemic corruption.
Fico is looking to Orbán’s model as a template for his own, with its combination of frozen EU aid, inflation and falling living standards. Slovakia risks following in Hungary’s footsteps with international isolation and internal impoverishment.
The rhetoric of “fighting the elites” is being used to destroy control institutions. In reality, what is happening is not the cleansing of the state, but the usurpation of resources by a small group of individuals.
Slovakia is becoming another element of a regional trend where pro-Russian or opportunistic populists come to power, destroy courts and anti-corruption bodies, and block investigations against their own.
It is well-known that corrupt regimes in Central and Eastern Europe have long had close ties to Russian financial and political interests. Shadow money and Moscow’s geopolitical influence are facilitated by the weakening of legal institutions.
Slovakia is undermining confidence in the European system of values from within. If such cases remain unpunished, the EU risks becoming a space with formal rules and real power for the strong, which would be at odds with the EU’s stated values.
Eliminating whistleblower protection is reaching a point of no return. Society must either mobilise against corrupt retribution, or accept a new normality where corruption underpins state governance.