BRATISLAVA
FROM OUR REPORTER – The latest low blow comes on the eve of the vote with a series of videos that are, to say the least, misleading: the slogans of the nationalists of the Russophile ultra-right can be heard from the leaders of the rival. progressive and pro-Western party. While the polls are still closed – voting begins on Saturday, 30th morning – there is already a first winner in Slovakia: pro-Moscow disinformation. In recent weeks there has been an increasing focus on winning over those who will make the difference in these elections: the undecided, one in four, according to polls.
The small eastern country of less than 6 million people has unusually fallen under the international radar because of a vote that could lead to the emergence of another Orbán-style leader in Europe and weaken the pro-Ukrainian front. Today the elections have opened and tomorrow we will know who won between the former social populist and Russophile Prime Minister Robert Fico – whose Smer party has lost its lead in the last polls – and Michal Šimecka, the pro-Western liberal leader of “Progressives”. Slovakia”, the party of President Zuzana Caputová.
As a member state of the former Soviet bloc, which later merged into the EU and NATO, Slovakia is a very fertile ground for pro-Russian narratives: over 365,000 articles containing disinformation and hate speech against Ukraine and its supporters were spread “Slovak social networks in the first two September weeks,” tells us Richard Kutcha from Reset, who works to combat digital threats to democracy. The most active “spreaders” are pro-Russian Slovak politicians. Starting with Fico (for whom “the war in Ukraine began in 2014 when Ukrainian fascists killed Russian civilians”) and his possible allies, the far-right nationalists of the Republika and the Slovak National Party, the SNS.
With her cell phone in hand, Kutcha shows some videos that have a devilish quality: in one, Caputová can be seen calling for “not to blindly follow the progressive herd” and to vote “for the real Slovakia.” In another instance, Šimecka is heard saying: “We have the seats under control, we are fighting in the eastern areas, but we have a plan,” fueling conspiracy theories about election manipulation. Videos published by Republika created with voice-overs generated by artificial intelligence. The new EU digital rules passed in August were not enough to contain the situation. “In reality, the law has not yet been fully implemented,” explains Dominika Hajdu from Globsec, a think tank in Bratislava. The result is that only 40% of Slovaks attribute responsibility for the conflict to Russia. Propaganda against Zelensky, who is portrayed as a corrupt and drug-using Nazi, has also gained a foothold: only 31% of Slovaks perceive him as a positive figure. “Disinformation thrives for historical and social reasons,” explains Hajdu. “There are those who are nostalgic for the communist era and those who are disillusioned with democracy.”