The Slovak Ministry of Culture, led by far-right minister Martina Simkovicova, has issued an internal list of “risky” literature which includes Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, British novelist Frederick Forsyth, and also Adolf Hitler and Norwegian far-right murderer Anders Breivik. Other names listed in the document as risky authors are Stalin and American far-right conspiracy spreader Alex Jones.

The eclectic list is an internal document for the ministry’s employees to supposedly identify authors of works that can lead to the “radicalisation of persons in the context of modern technologies.”

The document was supposedly designed based on reports from Slovak intelligence service the Slovak Information Service (SIS), Czech liberal daily DenikN wrote.

Simkovicova –  who was nominated to the cabinet by the far-right party SNS and previously worked as a presenter at TV Slovan, which spread hoaxes about the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and war in Ukraine  – is facing renewed calls for resignation after she sacked the heads of the country’s key cultural institutions, including Alexandra Kusa from the Slovak National Gallery and Matej Drlicka from the Slovak National Theatre earlier this month.

A total of 28,000 people protested the moves in the streets of the country's capital Bratislava over two days last week and the opposition, led by the centrist Progressive Slovakia (PS) party, vowed to push ahead with a vote of confidence against Simkovicova and Minister of Justice Boris Susko, who is slammed for releasing ex-prosecutor Dusan Kovacik, who was convicted of accepting bribes from the mafia and shielding its members from criminal investigations.

The left-right cabinet led by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico stepped up its efforts to complete the abolition of the rule of law while the European Commission is in the middle of a changeover following the elections to the European Parliament in June. Fico survived an assassination attempt in May and returned to politics this summer with baseless accusations that the would-be assassin was an “opposition activist”.

Fico’s cabinet already dismantled the special prosecution office overseeing high-profile corruption cases, which raised concerns in Brussels, and is set to dismantle a special anti-corruption police unit by the end of August.

Fico also used the cultural portfolio to attack the PS leader Michal Simecka after he and Simkovicova accused Simecka of benefiting from state subsidies through a foundation named after his grandfather, Czechoslovak writer, philosopher and communist-era dissident Milan Simecka. The Milan Simecka Foundation was set up some 30 years ago following the famed writer’s death in 1990.

Michal Simecka, who is 39, denied ever benefiting from the Foundation.

“If the Andrej Bagar Theatre in Nitra obtains state support, it does not mean that the family of Andrej Bagar benefits from it,” Simecka said, giving the example of the Slovak actor and director and the theatre in the town of Nitra named after Bagar.

Fico, Simkovicova and other members of the ruling Smer and SNS parties have relied on hoaxes about Brussels and liberal politicians to invoke conspiracies and build narratives that they are defending Slovak traditional values. Fico also said his coalition, which also includes the centre-left Hlas and holds a narrow majority in the parliament, will vote Simecka out of his post as the vice chair of the parliament, traditionally held by the leader of the strongest opposition party.  

Simecka vowed to go ahead with a confidence move against Simkovicova and also said he would make legal moves against Fico if Fico continued with the false attacks against him and his family.