Slovakia has accused the British Foreign Office of systematically interfering in their 2023 election. Yesterday, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico told a press conference that London had paid “journalists, activists, and influencers” to sway public opinion against his party, Smer-SD, and in favor of the opposition party Progressive Slovakia. He called it a “deliberate, intentional act by a foreign power with some journalists and political influencers” to interfere in their election. He called journalists’ attention to a July 16 article by Declassified UK.
The British ambassador has been summoned to Slovakia’s Foreign Ministry to explain London’s actions. Fico warned that if the ambassador failed to provide a satisfactory explanation, he would write an open letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and personally contact other EU leaders. He added: “Our interest is not to escalate tensions, but to clarify the situation.”
Last night, the British Embassy’s spokeswoman in Slovakia Monika Holečková told local news agency Aktuality.sk: “Any claim that the United Kingdom sought to influence the outcome of the election or encourage people to vote for or against a particular political party is completely untrue. This activity was aimed at encouraging young people to participate in the democratic process in their countries by participating in elections, regardless of their political affiliation or support.”
Left unsaid is that the Declassified UK article reported that the British Foreign Office paid Zinc Network Ltd to then recruit and pay “influencers” across Central and Eastern Europe, a region it described as a “key battleground in the information war with Russia,” to post videos with content the Foreign Office approved.
Slovakia has also been investigating the assassination attempt in May last year against Fico and the role of foreign funding of a reckless media campaign to inflame the population, putting a target on Fico for his neutral position between Ukraine and Russia.
