MEPs issue ‘final warning’ to Slovakia over rule of law concerns

The European Parliament on Wednesday stepped up pressure on Robert Fico’s government, adopting a second rule-of-law resolution in less than a month and warning Slovakia could ultimately face the suspension of EU funds.

Unlike a previous resolution focused mainly on concerns over the management of EU money, the new text broadened criticism to the overall state of democracy, judicial independence, media freedom, NGOs and minority rights in Slovakia.

Since coming back to power in 2023, Fico’s government has faced criticism over weakening anti-corruption institutions, political attacks on independent media, NGOs and minorities, and controversial reforms to the criminal code, national public broadcaster and Slovak constitution.

A majority of the 537 MEPs present voted in favour of the resolution, with 347 backing the text. Slovak lawmakers either voted against it or abstained.

MEPs called on the European Commission to assess whether there is a “clear risk of a serious breach” of EU values under Article 2 of the EU treaties and urged Brussels to use “all enforcement tools at its disposal”, including the rule-of-law conditionality mechanism.

That mechanism could eventually lead to the suspension of EU budget payments if Slovakia fails to address concerns over democratic standards and the protection of EU funds.

For now, however, the resolution only calls on the Commission to launch the initial phase of the conditionality mechanism, which would involve formally notifying Bratislava of its concerns and allowing time for corrective measures.

The resolution is not legally binding, but it significantly increases political pressure on Brussels to act and signals strong parliamentary backing for possible future action against Slovakia.

The text drew heavily on findings from two European Parliament monitoring missions carried out in Slovakia in 2025 by lawmakers from the LIBE and CONT committees.

Those missions concluded that rule-of-law conditions had continued to deteriorate. At the time, Belgian liberal MEP Sophie Wilmès warned that “Slovakia is on the path to becoming another Hungary”.

Ahead of Wednesday’s vote, lawmakers involved in the missions said they had seen no meaningful improvements since their visits.

Javier Zarzalejos, chair of the European Parliament’s LIBE committee, described the resolution as a “final warning” to Slovakia.

“The European Union is not just a cash machine,” he said. “It is a community based on law and democracy, and that also comes with obligations.”

(cs)