SaS and 'Slovakia' Criticise Government over EC Report on State of Rule of Law

Bratislava, 20 July (TASR) - The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and 'Slovakia' parties have criticised the government in connection with the European Commission's (EC) report on the state of the rule of law in the country. "The fight against corruption, especially at the highest levels, is in total disarray in Slovakia and is even worse than it was in 2025. The reasons for this situation are clear to the European Commission: they include the scrapping of the Special Prosecutor's Office and the National Crime Agency, as well as the adoption of several amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, which ultimately weakened investigations of crimes and the fight against corruption," stated the 'Slovakia' party. SaS views the European Commission's finding that the fight against corruption in Slovakia is not improving as a serious problem. "Corruption is eating away the state and people's trust that the law is upheld here and that just laws apply equally to everyone. And indeed, this government reminds us every day that it sees things completely differently. Here, legislation is being tailored to the needs of those facing criminal prosecution. Criminal policy benefits criminals. And this is evident from the European Commission's report on the rule of law," stated MP Maria Kolikova (SaS), pointing out that the level of protection for media independence is declining in Slovakia. "This report is truly a wake-up call from the European Commission that, if no corrective action is taken here, EU funds for Slovakia may be suspended. But of course, this isn't just about those EU funds; it's about ensuring we have a state governed by the rule of law, where we trust the state to protect us all and to ensure our safety," she added. The EC published its annual rule of law report on Friday (17 July), stating that Slovakia had made progress in some areas of the justice system. At the same time, it pointed to continuing shortcomings in the fight against corruption, the transparency of the legislative process, the protection of journalists and the independence of public-service media. The Slovak government took note of the report. It welcomed the fact that the document positively assessed the implementation of several recommendations from last year's report and acknowledged progress in a number of areas. The cabinet said it plans to address the identified shortcomings and adopt measures to remedy them. However, it rejected the EC's assessment regarding the prosecution of high-level corruption, arguing that the report was biased and lacked objectivity in this area. am