Slovakia's new populist cabinet led by the Smer party of Robert Fico is facing a wave of EU criticism after it approved the dismantling of the Special Prosecutors Office and changes in the criminal code.

The legislation aimed at dismantling the Special Prosecutor's Office is criticised by opposition, journalists and analysts as designed to safeguard Smer officials in the party's previous government from further investigations. The legislation also reduces the penalties for financial crime,  weakens protection for whistleblowers, and enables reviews of the incentives given to informants.

Slovak MEPs called a session at the European Parliament to discuss the legislative changes approved by Fico’s cabinet.

“I would like to assure you the Commission won’t hesitate to take all the steps necessary to secure the observing of EU law including orderly financial management of  EU funds," Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders told MEPs.

Fico referred to the Slovak MEPs criticising his judicial overhaul as committing “economic treason”.   

Fico is attending the EU summit in Brussels, where he said his cabinet would back Ukraine’s EU bid, but that Ukraine is not ready for EU membership.

In a historic move, EU leaders decided to open accession talks with Ukraine, but Hungarian strongman Viktor Orban blocked a €50bn EU aid package for Ukraine just hours later on December 15. Fears also persist the Fico could join Orban in his hard-line stance should Fico’s relationship with the EU sour over his legislative changes.

Vice chairman of the European Parliament Martin Hojsik (Progressive Slovakia/Renew), one of the highest ranking Slovak MEPs, held talks with Reynders. “There is a concern that financial interests of the EU could be threatened” by the legislative changes pushed by the Slovak cabinet, he told the media. “In other words, that cases investigating stealing of EU’s financial resources could be stopped,” he was quoted as saying by online news outlet Aktuality.sk. 

Opposition has been obstructing the passing of state budget in the Slovak National Council (parliament) this week in an effort to prevent opening the session on the dismantling of the Special Prosecutor Office. That tactic seems to have postponed discussion of the legislative changes until after Christmas.

“Smer-SD’s priority issue is the state budget” the Smer press department was quoted as saying by Slovak Press Agency (TASR) amid speculations that Smer and its coalition partners, centre-left Hlas and far right SNS, will be forced to postpone the judicial and criminal changes until January.

“I’d rather take my pants down than take down the legislative proposal because of pressure from some opposition,” Smer legislator Jan Richter was quoted as saying by public broadcaster RTVS. “The session should be suspended and continue in January including the criminal law”, he added.  

Earlier this week protests against the judicial overhaul spread from the capital Bratislava to other cities in Slovakia. Opposition parties Progressive Slovakia, Christian Democratic KDH and neoliberal SaS vowed to continue the protests.

The Special Prosecutor's Office was established in 2004 and oversees some of the most high profile and most serious cases of financial and organised crime, including those launched in 2020 into Smer’s 2010s era in power which ended in 2018 amid mass protests ignited by murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancé Martina Kusnirova.