Slovak PM Fico Targets NGOs While Defense Ministry Faces Scrutiny Over Undisclosed Contracts

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has been publicly criticizing non-governmental organizations, describing them as one of the country's most serious problems, even as his own government faces questions over financial transparency at the Defense Ministry. The ministry has been accused of spending large sums of money while failing to publish the corresponding contracts — a legal obligation under Slovak transparency rules. The contrast has drawn sharp criticism from observers who argue that Fico is deflecting attention from accountability failures within his own administration. Fico, who leads Smer-SD, a left-nationalist party that returned to power in 2023, has repeatedly framed NGOs — many of which receive Western or EU funding — as foreign-influenced entities working against Slovak national interests. Critics, however, point to the Defense Ministry's opaque spending as a more pressing governance concern, noting that undisclosed public contracts undermine the very transparency standards Slovakia is obligated to uphold as an EU member state.