Graft Unit Dissolved Despite EU Concerns

The Slovakian gov't has confirmed the shutting down of a special prosecution unit (USP) focused on the issue of state corruption and graft in a move that has drawn criticism from the opposition and warnings from the European Union. The gov't of PM Robert Fico has alleged that the USP is biased against politicians from the governing left-wing populist Smer-SD party.

• Mass protests have taken place in recent months aimed at a number of gov't actions, including the criminal code reforms, plans to overhaul the public broadcaster, and being seen to be toosupportive of Russia in its foreign policy.
• The EU has not taken any formal action against Slovakia as of yet, with two strands of thinking pulling Brussels in opposite directions. Some argue that the Fico gov't has not enacted the kind of measures implemented by Hungarian PM Viktor Orban that have been seen to breach EU rule of law standards, and as such infringement proceedings are not yet warranted.
• However, others have argued that the EU must stamp down on any actions that even lean in the direction of an Orban-eqsue shift for Slovakia in an effort to stop them at source.
• The upcoming presidential election on 23 March will be closely watched in Brussels. A win for parliament Speaker Peter Pellegrini (a coalition partner of Fico) would remove another barrier to Fico's populist policy agenda (incumbent Zuzana Caputova has often sought to push back against some of the PM's more controversial policies).