Slovakia: Fico's cabinet includes controversial appointments

When President Zuzana Caputova appointed the new Slovak government led by Robert Fico on October 25, she expressed hope it would represent all citizens — including those who had not voted for Fico's Smer-SD party.

Indeed, the majority of the Slovak electorate did not vote for the nominally left-leaning Smer party, which garnered only 23% of votes in the election on September 30. But even this low result was enough for Smer to become the biggest party and form a new coalition government with the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS) and the left-wing Hlas.

It was also enough to propel 59-year-old Fico, who had resigned as prime minister in 2018 during the political crisis that followed the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée, back to the political front line.

Several of those who now sit around the cabinet table — and indeed a number of those who now hold senior ministerial posts — have faced accusations of establishing criminal groups within state structures. DW takes a closer look at some of the more controversial figures in Fico's government. 

Prime Minister Robert Fico

Four-time prime minister and leader of the (nominally) social democratic Smer-SD party, Fico rose to power in 2006. At the time, he was a very different politician to the pro-Russian, Orban-style leader we see today.

In 2018, for instance, he said: "We are the EU. If we talk about Slovakia, we also talk about the priorities of the European Union … There is nothing better than the EU. There just isn't."

This statement came a day after the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova. Kuciak was an investigative journalist who had been working on uncovering alleged tax fraud committed by high-profile businessmen linked to political parties such as Smer. Fico was forced to resign in the fallout from Kuciak's murder.

Both he and his party have been accused of widespread corruption, which paved the way for the election victory of the anti-corruption OLANO party (now called Movement Slovakia) in 2020. This was the first election Smer lost in almost 15 years.

After the new OLANO-led government made major personnel changes in the police, judiciary and the public prosecutor's office, members of Smer suddenly faced serious accusations of corruption and forming criminal groups within state structures.

According to media reports, Robert Fico and Robert Kalinak were the ringleaders in all this. The attorney general later dismissed the charges on the grounds that the police did not have enough evidence against the two politicians.

Defense Minister Robert Kalinak

Fico is not the only one to make a political comeback. His ally and confidant Robert Kalinak, who was also implicated in the corruption allegations, is now defense minister.

Kalinak had served as interior minister in Fico's last cabinet, however, President Caputova had signaled on television shortly after September's election that she would not appoint him to this position again: "If an accused person were to become interior minister, I would consider that a very questionable appointment," she said.

Now at the helm of the Defense Ministry, Kalinak owns a company called Liwa Arms that makes hunting rifles. According to its website, the company aspires to boost not only Slovak regional trade but also international business. Its parent company is based in the United Arab Emirates.

The position of interior minister has been given to a young politician from the left-wing Hlas party, Matus Sutaj Estok.

Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova

Slovakia's new culture minister is Martina Simkovicova. The 52-year-old journalist and former TV news anchor is a member of the far-right Slovak National Party (SNS). Simkovicova was fired by the Slovak television channel Markiza, where she had worked for almost 18 years, for sharing anti-migrant content on social media. From Markiza, she moved to the television channel TV Slovan, which is well known for peddling conspiracy theories and disinformation.

In one of her first speeches as culture minister, Simkovicova stressed that she is against mixing Slovak and foreign cultures: "The culture of the Slovak people should be Slovak — Slovak and no other. We tolerate other cultures, but our culture is not a mixture of other cultures," she said.

With many artists and independent creatives in Slovakia signing a petition protesting her appointment, she has certainly not been greeted with open arms by the sector for which her ministry is responsible.

Environment Minister Tomas Taraba

Tomas Taraba was not SNS's first choice for the post of environment minister. It had hoped that the portfolio would go to the extreme right-winger Rudolf Huliak, who has come to dubious notoriety for his hate-filled posts on social media targeting a Slovak nature conservationist whom he suggested should be hanged.

Because President Caputova vetoed Huliak's appointment to the post, 43-year-old Tomas Taraba was made environment minister instead.

While the new environment minister has not made any threatening remarks about conservationists, he has in the past accused NGOs of manipulating the ministry he now heads and made controversial statements about the protection of nature.

Many fear that Taraba, a successful businessman, will look after the interests of the industry and exploit rather than protect Slovakia's natural resources.

Edited by: Aingeal Flanagan