Slovakia: Fico accuses opposition of planning coup
The opposition in the Slovakian parliament tried to table a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Robert Fico on Tuesday, but he prevented this by presenting an intelligence report accusing the opposition of planning a "Maidan", a coup along the lines of the 2014 protests in Ukraine, to seize power.
Reminiscent of Soviet methods
The situation does not look good, Der Standard concludes:
“Fico insisted on holding his speech behind closed doors. The reason: he wanted to quote from a secret service report, which explains why none of the MPs who came after him were allowed to speak in public either. The opposition didn't play along for long. The session was interrupted, the vote did not take place. Government MPs later spoke of shocking revelations in the secret service paper. The opposition, on the other hand, complained that it was more of a mishmash of accusations that are typical of Fico, who sees the recent resurgence of mass protests as heralding a coup. Some even sees this as reminiscent of the instrumentalisation of the secret services under the communist dictatorship of former Czechoslovakia.”
Protest is part of democracy
In Seznam Zprávy, Slovakian journalist Samuel Marec accuses Fico of losing all sense of proportion:
“Fico is working with lies, conspiracies and fear, pulling Slovakia eastwards and hinting at a withdrawal from the European Union and Nato. He talks of a coup and threatens opponents. He is doing this either because he really means it or simply to mobilise his supporters ahead of early elections. I don't know the answer and, to be honest, it doesn't matter. What matters is that Robert Fico has lost any inhibitions. ... He announced 'considerable precautionary measures' aimed at preventing a coup. However protest is not a coup - protest is part of democracy.”
Autocracy-style deterrence
Aktuality.sk warns of imminent repression:
“Fico wants to scare the pro-Western section of the public, which has been protesting practically since the government was first formed. He wants people to be afraid of going to protests - because, for example, it could come to a provoked event that triggers a series of others such as arrests, deployment of security forces, etc. ... Fico is thus continuing his attacks on the last remnants of the rule of law, destabilising Slovakia and introducing practices that are typical of autocratic regimes. The worst thing that can happen is that his critics start to fear him. Then he will win.”
His allies in Prague are tellingly silent
The political forces in the neighbouring Czech Republic have good reason to follow events in Slovakia closely, says Respekt:
“It cannot be ruled out that the coming weeks in Slovakia will be very dramatic to say the least, and that the rule of law and democracy will hang in the balance. This could also have an impact on Czech politics. Fico and his Smer party are among the closest political allies of [Czech opposition leader and former prime minister] Andrej Babiš. And the latter is being very careful not to complicate this alliance by criticising it. In a way, Slovakia and Hungary are becoming model states for us, where the public can observe what Fico's Czech allies want to achieve in our country in the future.”