00:00 "Enough with the police!"
00:04 From the outside we are like the beautiful democratic land in Eastern Europe.
00:09 But if you look inside it, it's polluted with crime and oligarchs.
00:17 That's why I think it's the black hole of Europe.
00:25 "Enough with the police!"
00:31 It's only been a few weeks since the new Slovak government
00:42 has brought an eclectic social protest movement
00:45 that includes the opposition, of course, but also lawyers, journalists, NGOs
00:50 and a large cast of civil society.
00:52 I've come to the heart of the protests here in Bratislava,
00:55 the capital of the country, to try and understand what's going on.
00:59 Some 15,000 protesters are protesting against Prime Minister Robert Fischl
01:14 and his plans to dismantle the Office of the Special Prosecutor.
01:18 The institution is pursuing high-level corruption and organized crime
01:22 and is currently working on several cases that affect Fischl's own party.
01:27 Daniel Lipschitz is ready to step down.
01:38 Even the European Commission has shown concern for the plans.
01:43 Why are you here?
01:45 We're here to show our support and solidarity for democracy and the rule of law.
01:50 Because basically he's corrupting the judicial system here.
01:55 His friends are under investigation.
01:58 Civil society and people are here, so we are trying to fight.
02:01 We need to stop the people who are basically just robbing the state.
02:11 We just need to finally show that we just don't want them here.
02:15 Robert Fischl became Prime Minister for the fourth time this fall
02:25 in front of a coalition of left-wing and ultra-nationalist parties.
02:29 His critics say his campaign was planted with pro-Russian,
02:33 anti-Ukrainian, anti-American rhetoric and against immigration.
02:37 Is his return to power a real threat to democracy in Slovakia?
02:42 I'm looking for answers in an NGO involved in the fight against corruption.
02:48 Slovakia ranks 50th out of 180 countries listed in the Global Corruption Index.
02:57 It's its best position in a decade, these experts tell me.
03:01 But they say there are not enough reasons to feel proud.
03:05 I'm not sure if that's true.
03:07 There are two main areas in Slovakia that our campaign is focused on.
03:12 First, there are public and state bans.
03:16 Then there is a conflict of interests among politicians,
03:20 especially among those who are interested in public interest and corruption.
03:26 In the last few years, the biggest police intervention has taken place in this area.
03:34 Some of these political chaos have already happened in front of the court.
03:39 It has been shown that corruption is one of the biggest threats to politics.
03:45 The NGOs have been classified by the Prime Minister as foreign agents, thieves and liars.
03:53 The government has proposed to divert some of the public money from the pensioners.
04:01 This small town, 35 km from the capital, has a 30% Gypsy population.
04:07 Unemployment is high and the school attendance is low.
04:13 Humanitarian organizations have been working here for a long time.
04:19 Now, given the government's rhetoric against NGOs and minorities,
04:23 they don't know if they can continue operating.
04:29 You have to bring the running water, you have to bring everywhere what is necessary
04:34 to be able to study, to be able to go to work every day.
04:38 And then you can bring the social learning and skills, empowerment and things like that.
04:47 We are missing the sources for systematic work and also some services funded by government.
04:54 We feel that the support of the government is the most important thing in this moment.
05:00 So we hope that this attitude will change and that we will get the chance to continue in our activities.
05:08 Back in Bratislava, I try to get these concerns to the executive power, but I can't.
05:16 The government has rejected my numerous interviews.
05:21 It has agreed to talk to me, but the country's ombudsman, the defender of fundamental rights,
05:26 is a public body whose independence is endorsed by the constitution.
05:31 The defender is in charge of denouncing human rights violations,
05:37 equitable treatment and ethical conduct of public authorities.
05:41 He can't comment on government policies, but he says he monitors the protection
05:46 of fundamental rights of all minorities, including the Roma community.
05:51 The arrival of school segregation in one case, which I note,
05:58 led to the violation of the right of children to be raised without discrimination, to be educated.
06:04 It was the case of a particular school in eastern Slovakia,
06:09 where I even started communicating with the school administrator,
06:13 who I advised to leave these discriminatory practices,
06:18 so that the majority of children would not be segregated.
06:25 The new government has also sent ambivalent messages about the war in Ukraine.
06:32 The Prime Minister said he would not send more weapons.
06:35 He later changed his statement, but the almost 150,000 Ukrainians who live here
06:40 are concerned.
06:43 This NGO teaches lessons to help refugees learn Slovak and integrate better.
06:50 Mihailo escaped from Mariupol.
06:53 People have already stopped fighting the war.
06:57 Many people associate the increase in prices for food and services with the war.
07:05 Many people blame the Ukrainians for this.
07:10 The relations have deteriorated a bit.
07:13 Some people who come right now are not as comfortable as they were when we arrived.
07:23 Olena comes from a small town near Kharkov.
07:28 I am worried about this. I was afraid that the government would not continue the program for housing.
07:38 I am worried about our future.
07:43 The conversations with the new government are complicated,
07:48 says the director and co-founder of the NGO.
07:52 I am worried about the list of priorities.
07:57 The topic of Ukrainians and Ukrainian inclusion and integration has gone and will be in the coming years.
08:06 We are already working with budgets that are 50-60% smaller than they were this year.
08:15 We are concerned. But I also must say that this is a government that is not unfamiliar to us.
08:22 We do continue to have an operational relationship with their offices.
08:29 The previous prime minister's term ended with his resignation after mass protests
08:34 for the murder of a journalist who investigated high-level political corruption and his girlfriend.
08:40 Now this rhetoric against the media has returned, says the editor-in-chief of a newspaper
08:46 that is already in the point of view of the new government.
08:50 Mr. Friso has a problem with the free media.
08:55 It is not a new situation. It is like this for all the years.
08:59 He didn't respond. He didn't answer our questions for years.
09:03 He is attacking journalists all the time.
09:06 He calls journalists prostitutes, he calls journalists snakes and whatever.
09:14 I thought that the lesson with the murdering of Yan Kutse would be a lesson also for him.
09:21 And he would understand that he has to change his attitude towards journalism and free media.
09:27 But he didn't.
09:29 After an hour of speeches, I made my last interviews.
09:33 Fraternity, equality, freedom.
09:37 It is a country where I was born and raised and I want this country to be a nice, prosperous country.
09:47 [Music]
09:59 (upbeat music)
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