Apr 13
My budeme ďaší, však? Slováci sa zbavia Fica, však? Aj my dostaneme win, VŠAK????
Congratulations Hungary. Slovakia next, please, I cannot stand that Russian bootlicker.
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My budeme ďaší, však? Slováci sa zbavia Fica, však? Aj my dostaneme win, VŠAK????
Congratulations Hungary. Slovakia next, please, I cannot stand that Russian bootlicker.
Peak journalism
His name is Robert Fico btw. And it happened in Slovakia too.
Slovak prime minister: *exists*
71 years old guy on 15th of May 2024:
soooo our PM just got shot by just, i mean... they reported it an hour and half ago?
it is very chaotic. he is both okay and dying (well, some media reported he was not in the risk of dying and then the governmental office said he was very much in the risk of death so idk who to believe).
interesting fact is that it is he who was scaring us with a possible assassination attempt at our almost-president (elected to become a president, not yet sworn in)
What is also interesting is the way people reacted. the opposition is mostly saying "oh no how terrible violence bad we hope the PM makes it" while the coalition is blaming the opposition and journalists.
i think that says something about the state of our politics and also freedom of press
anyway, our constitution doesn't say what's supposed to happen if the PM dies. and denník n (one of the most reliable sources in slovakia) said that if the PM is incapacitated for a long period of time, they are supposed to appoint someone from the ministers to act in their stead. idk how that works if the PM can't appoint anyone due to circumstances that might occur, such as coma or death though, that is quite unprecedented
anyway those are my two eurocents on this as a political science student who should really be actually studying but instead, i read the news, the constitution and then write this
The prime minister called it a "great dam against progressivism."
Greg Owen at LGBTQ Nation:
Following a playbook from Hungary and Russia’s leaders, Slovakia’s populist government on Friday passed an illiberal ragbag of measures in a constitutional amendment that defines sex as binary, bans adoption by same-sex couples, outlaws surrogacy, and asserts the E.U. member’s “national sovereignty in cultural and ethical matters.” Prime Minister Robert Fico, whose coalition of populist, leftist, and nationalist parties has faced mounting demonstrations in the country’s capital, Bratislava, promoted the amendment as a bulwark against liberal ideology that was “spreading like cancer” in the central European state. His populist-nationalist government argued the amendment was necessary to protect “traditional values.” Fico said he would celebrate with a shot of liquor following the amendment’s knife-edge passage in the 150-seat Slovak National Council on Friday. “This isn’t a little dam, or just a regular dam – this is a great dam against progressivism,” he declared to followers. Fico leads a precarious coalition of parties across the political spectrum. His own Smer-Social Democracy party has morphed into a nationalist party far removed from the progressive values of Europe’s center-left mainstream that it was founded on.
Slovakia joins the shameful list of nations in Europe that have eroded LGBTQ+ rights, like their neighbour Hungary.
See Also:
The Guardian: Slovakia marks ‘dark day’ as LGBTQ+ rights rolled back in parliament
Why is right-wing populism outmatching left-wing populism across the Globe?
It’s so much easier to make people feel afraid than it is to make them feel hopeful or safe or supported. Right wing populism preys on people’s fears and stokes pre-existing anxieties, while also providing an individual “strongman” that people can look to for resolution. Simple and effective.
If we look at left-wing policies or general ideological talking points, they require both:
an inherent empathy/sympathy for strangers and community alike
a strong persistence to work against pre-existing institutions/structures to achieve that which isn’t often simple
It requires more effort, more funding, and occasionally can’t be simplified into layman’s terms, which ostracizes those who can’t reach higher education. This, above all else, is what makes right-wing populist rhetoric so effective - it’s approachable. It doesn’t ask you to care for others (quite the opposite) outside of your own interests. It’s comforting to have a powerful leader who “isn’t afraid to speak the truth” or “tell it like it is”, when the preceding leaders have all spoken outside your comprehension and made you feel isolated from your country in their education, class, and/or status.
Really, right-wing populism is in vogue because it’s so much easier to understand and so much easier to exercise. It doesn’t ask for much - it certainly doesn’t ask for us to follow rules or facts. It’s chameleon, and its rhetoric shapes to what would reach the most people regardless of how plausible, reasonable, or respectable it is.
Seeing fellow pro-Ukraine peeps from outside Slovakia talking about Fico's latest tantrum around sanctions be like