International security conference Globsec Forum 2024 will be held in Prague this year after losing the support of the new Slovak left-right cabinet of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Fico is targeting Slovakia's strong roster of think-tanks, which he argues is part of the opposition campaign against him, and in particular Globsec, which is strongly pro-Western, while he often echoes Kremlin talking points.

Shortly after signing a coalition agreement between his leftist Smer party, the centre-left Hlas and the far right SNS last autumn, Fico declared that “as of this day, the rule of political NGOs in Slovakia has ended”, increasing a state of alarm among NGOs in Slovakia.

Globsec, Slovakia's most famous think-tank, was in Fico's sights for its strong backing for the West's support for Ukraine and its general pro-liberal stance. Fico has called for peace talks to end the war, blamed both the West and Ukraine itself for provoking it, criticised sanctions,  and his government has ended arms donations to Kyiv. He criticised the hawkish think-tank for its "Western propaganda".

In December the new government cut its financial support for Globsec's flagship conference – the biggest security conference on the Eastern Flank states facing Russia – and said it should depend instead on private donations. “We would rather give this money for Globsec and [US philanthropist George] Soros to [national heritage organisation] Slovak Matica,” Fico stated on his popular Facebook page last December. 

Andrej Danko, leader of the far-right SNS party, stated in December that SNS aims “to curtail the financing of the third sector” and that “it is natural and […] also desirable that institutions such as Globsec do not have a single euro from the state”, adding that Globsec “is a civic association which costs us hundreds of thousands on direct support alone”. 

In a statement responding to Danko’s words in December, Globsec said that despite the state contribution, the majority of Globsec funding comes from private resources and that “we remain committed to constructive co-operation with any government which supports the continued membership of Slovakia in European and transatlantic structures and abides by European democratic values”.

This week Czech President Petr Pavel welcomed Globsec to Prague. The event has been held in the Slovak capital 18 times annually and will now be held in Prague from August 30 to September 1. The Globsec think-tank is to remain based in Bratislava.

“Globsec is a significant international conference contributing to the cultivation of dialogue on international and security policy questions, which is very needed in today’s world,” Pavel stated, adding he is looking forward to the Prague Forum, which “will highlight its Central European dimension”.

The 2023 edition of Globsec hosted French President Emmanuel Macron, and the forum has long been the highest-profile international event in Slovakia.  

“The rich history and the strategic significance of Prague turns it into an ideal place for support of international dialogue and spreading of the constructive voice of Central Europe,” Globsec’s founder and president Robert Vass was quoted as saying by Czech media.

The news comes a week after Prague hosted its first Visegrad 4 (V4) summit of prime ministers since Czechia took over the V4 platform presidency. Several Czech political analysts and commentators criticised the V4 summit as giving unnecessary room for Fico and his ally, Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban, who hold an outlier position on the war in Ukraine and have at times even adopted a pro-Kremlin stance.