Slovakian defamation law rings EU alarm bells

Date: 04/04/1996

By Thomas Klau

DRASTIC anti-subversion legislation approved by the Slovakian parliament last week has triggered fresh concerns in Brussels that the country is moving further and further away from the democratic standards expected of future EU members.

While MEPs and Union officials welcomed the long-awaited ratification of a bilateral treaty with Hungary guaranteeing the border between the two countries and the rights of minorities on both sides of the frontier, they expressed strong disappointment about the simultaneous enactment of a law which makes defamation of Slovakia abroad a criminal offence carrying a maximum penalty of five years in jail.

The controversial legislation “on the protection of the republic” - strongly reminiscent of similar methods used by Soviet bloc states to stifle opposition at home and abroad - was agreed to secure the parliamentary support of Slovakia's ultra-nationalists for the treaty with Hungary.

The law, which has yet to be signed by Slovak President Milan Kovac, severely curtails freedom of speech and assembly. It makes it a criminal offence to organise public meetings with the intent to “harm the constitutional order, the territorial integrity or the defence capability” of Slovakia or to “destroy” its independence.

The same stiff penalties apply to Slovakian citizens or other residents “who damage the reputation and the interests of Slovakia abroad through wilful dissemination of wrong information”.

The move has sparked a storm of protest in Slovakia itself, as well as prompting concern in EU circles.

The Slovakian Roman Catholic Bishops Conference issued a sharp public condemnation of the legislation which, they said, was similar to the Communist laws that had led to the persecution of thousands of innocent citizens.

Lawyers expressed particular concern over the fact that the new law covers the intent to commit an offence as defined under the legislation, as well as actual acts, opening the way to a sweeping interpretation of its provisions.

And as the European Commission immediately asked the authorities in Bratislava for clarification, MEPs expressed strong concern over a move which many believe has further damaged Slovakia's chances of EU membership, despite its success story in economic terms.

Bratislava's open defiance of Union pressure came as a painful surprise to EU officials and MEPs, several of whom had hoped the protest resolution approved by the Parliament and the Union troika's diplomatic démarche last year would help lead the Slovakian government to a change of attitude.

Herbert Bötsch, president of the EU's joint committee with the Slovakian parliament, spoke of a “cold shower” offsetting the positive effects of the ratification of the treaty with Hungary.

“It seems it might need a generation” for Slovakia to establish the minimum of democratic standards the EU sees as a precondition for accession talks, said one official.

“They always point to the fact that they are a new country and do not treat their Hungarian minority differently than the Germans treat their Turks. But all this is fairly unconvincing.”