Robert Fico, Prime Minister of Slovakia. Gage Skidmore/Flickr.

In April, Slovakia passed a new law which, its critics argue, places onerous obligations on civil society organisations operating in the country. The new legislation’s foundations were laid back in 2023, when Prime Minister Robert Fico stated that ‘the era of NGOs ruling this country is over.’  

So far during his fourth term in office, Fico has also introduced limits on free assembly, closed the Special Prosecutor’s Office that was investigating members of his political party and publicly criticised judges. It also appears that Fico is turning his gaze towards Russia, having recently met with President Vladimir Putin and withdrawn military aid to Ukraine.  

This direction of travel concerns many people in Slovakia and they’ve taken to the streets in large numbers. Demonstrations have been held regularly in Bratislava and other town squares over the past several months. Protests on specific issues such as supporting Ukraine or against what’s seen as political interference in the arts or justice have snowballed into a wider expression of anti-government sentiment. ‘A lot of people are angry about what is going on and don’t understand why Fico is moving the country this way,’ says Martin Provaznik, an officer of the IBA European Regional Forum. ‘He is pulling the country to the East.’  

The most recent move by the Fico-led government coalition involves new rules for NGOs. These place additional obligations on NGOs around financial reporting and freedom of information requirements. Fico has argued that civil society organisations are too influenced by foreign power and are overtly political.  

The key word appears to be ‘proportionality’ here. Dobrovodský is of the view that the law should be challenged and his office is preparing a petition for the Constitutional Court. ‘I believe that the NGO law is disproportionate because it requires the same financial reporting obligations for NGOs as there are for public bodies,’ he says. The changes resulting from the new law also bring NGOs within the reach of freedom of information legislation. Again, Dobrovodský argues this isn’t proportionate on the basis that the rules are only meant for public bodies, and not private entities. ‘I agree that there should be some transparency, but this is not proportional,’ he explains. 

The final rules were watered down from what was proposed in the bill’s first draft as a result of pressure from different camps. For instance, the draft bill categorised NGOs as lobbyists. This had the potential to further restrict their room for operation had they come under lobbying laws.  

There has also been a clampdown on protests, with Slovakia amending its right of assembly laws through a legislative package known as the ‘Lex Assassination’. The changes extend the physical restriction on protests from the previous 50-metre radius of the main parliament building to the vast majority of official buildings or premises. The government also proposed introducing new fines on any town or municipality that didn’t properly prohibit an assembly. While this part of the proposal didn’t succeed, it indicates governmental ambitions in this area. 

The Ministry of Interior argues that the new rules around free assembly are a necessary response ‘to the security situation’ following an attempted assassination on Fico himself in 2024. It says the rules conform to human rights standards. ‘The right to freedom of peaceful assembly under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights is not an absolute right. In certain situations, the right to assemble must give way,’ says the Ministry’s spokesperson. Provaznik, who’s a partner at BPV Braun Partners in Bratislava, also sees this as partly a security issue. ‘Fico has been anxious since the attempt on his life, and, perhaps, concerned about retribution after the changes he has made,’ he says. 

'The future is not very bright when it comes to civil liberties in Europe right now,’ says Balazs Denes, Executive Director at the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, which has recently published its 2025 Rule of Law Report. ‘The situation is more fragile in former communist countries,’ he adds. The measures passed by Slovakia’s government, most recently since Fico’s fourth term began in 2023, have led to it being seen as another country at risk of ‘democratic backsliding’, following Hungary’s trajectory.

So far, Slovakia has not faced disagreements with the EU over funding as Hungary has. But it’s noteworthy that in autumn 2024, Hungary’s own law targeting foreign-funded NGOs – the Sovereignty Protection Act – was referred by the European Commission to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Commission considers the legislation to be in breach of EU law, a charge Hungary denies.