2023 Early Parliamentary Elections in Slovakia
2023 Early Parliamentary Elections in Slovakia

A Turning Point or Just a Further Episode in the Turbulent Post-Authoritarian Development?

Summary/Abstract: Early parliamentary elections in Slovakia, held in September 2023, returned to power political forces that seemed to be politically non-revivable after the events of 2018 (the murder of the investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová, mass civil pro-tests and the subsequent resignation of Prime Minister Robert Fico), but especially after their electoral defeat in 2020. However, a combination of several internal and external factors contributed to the fact that these forces became considerably more radical and mobi-lized in 2020 – 2023. They used the dissatisfaction of the population with the rule of the previous coalition of center-right parties and managed to obtain sufficient support to form a new government. The victory of the national populists in 2023 and the first steps of their government created a real risk of losing some accomplishments of the democratic transi-tion after the collapse of the communist regime.

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