The political situation in Slovakia has become significantly more complicated in the last year. The governing coalition faces internal disagreements over its position on the war in Ukraine. The opposition is pressing for early elections. There are concerns about the growing influence of false information on people’s political preferences. In order to map the reach and credibility of disinformation narratives disseminated in connection with current political developments in Slovakia among the Slovak and Czech population, we are publishing a thematic report, the CEDMO Special Brief. The report also addresses public attitudes towards related issues in both countries.
According to the CEDMO Trends survey, 54% of Slovak men and women surveyed do not trust the Slovak government and the National Council of the Slovak Republic. Very high levels of distrust were also recorded in the survey of trust in institutions and organizations for social media (53%), political parties (51%), the Slovak Information Service (50%) and for churches (49%). In contrast, the army of the Slovak Republic enjoys the highest level of trust among Slovak citizens. It is trusted with varying degrees of intensity by 42% of people over 16 years of age. 36% of respondents expressed trust in President Peter Pellegrini, 45% expressed distrust.
Trust in institutions and organizations in Slovakia
Chart 1: Survey question “To what extent do you trust or distrust the following organisations/institutions?”, Source: CEDMO Trends SR, Charles University and IPSOS, N = 1 612
According to less than two-fifths of Slovak respondents (37%) and more than one-third of Czech respondents (35%), the government of Robert Fico is promoting an sovereign national policy beneficial to Slovakia. “Generally speaking, support for Robert Fico and his current government increases as the age of the respondents does. The older age groups over 65 are significantly more likely to approve of the actions of Robert Fico and his government than the youngest part of the population under 24. Their opinions diverge the most on issues of sovereign national policy. While only 11% of young people aged 16-24 agree that this type of policy is beneficial for Slovakia, the figure for the older population over 65 is as high as 56%,” says Paula Ivanková, a sociologist and researcher at IPSOS, the agency that collects data in Slovakia for the CEDMO Trends survey. On the contrary, more than half of the population in Slovakia (54%) and less than half of the population in the Czech Republic (48%) agree that Prime Minister Robert Fico’s statements about a coup attempt by the opposition are a cover for the problems of his government.
A similar proportion of Slovak respondents (53%) and a less than one-tenth higher proportion of Czech respondents (56%) say that Fico’s government is moving away from pro-Western policies. Early elections are seen as a way out of the current situation in Slovakia by 43% of Slovak respondents. In contrast, 42% of Slovaks and 30% of Czechs agree with the statement that a coup d’état is taking place in Slovakia led by foreign actors linked to the Slovak opposition[1]. Two out of five Slovak respondents (40%) assess the role of President Pellegrini in this crisis as impartial. “On the issue of the current political crisis in Slovakia, just under a third (31%) of the population over 65 years of age considers early elections to be the solution, while among the youngest age group (16-24 years of age), approval of early elections is as high as 60%,” explains Paula Ivankova, continuing. On the other hand, 58% of respondents over the age of 65 rate the President’s impartiality positively.”
[1] These values are based on CEDMO Trends survey questions asking for respondents’ attitudes in the form of agreement or disagreement with a particular statement.
The view of Slovak men and women on current political events
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The main disinformation narratives concerning events in Slovakia
According to the fact-checkers of the CEDMO hub (Demagog.cz, Demagog.sk and AFP), the main disinformation narratives disseminated in recent weeks in relation to political developments in Slovakia in both countries under review have mainly concerned Russia and Ukraine in connection with the US-Russian negotiations on the war in Ukraine and the alleged foreign control and financing of anti-government protests in Slovakia. These are followed a visit by Prime Minister Robert Fico to Moscow and statements by representatives of the Slovak government coalition against NATO and the EU[2].
The CEDMO Trends longitudinal research, which is conducted in monthly waves, regularly tests the reach and credibility of selected true and false narratives circulating in the digital space. The above narrative recorded by fact-checkers about the alleged plan of Western countries to overthrow the government of Robert Fico[3] was included in the questionnaire of the February wave of research in the Czech Republic.
“A false statement about an alleged plan by Western countries to overthrow the government of Robert Fico was recorded by 44 % of people over 16 years of age in the Czech Republic. 37% of respondents consider it credible [4],” comments, data analyst at the CEDMO hub at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University, Lukáš Kutil, and continues. The statement is slightly more likely to be trusted by people aged 45 and over (41%), people with a high school education without a high school diploma (45%) and significantly more likely by people who want Russia to win the war in Ukraine (67%).”
“We have long observed a trend that points to a link between political preference and the level of exposure to false information. The current wave of research shows that the part of the population that is more supportive of the current performance of Robert Fico and his government is more likely to come into contact with false information and consider it credible,” concludes Paula Ivanková.
[2] For more detailed information see pages 2 and 3 of the CEDMO Special Brief – Political developments in Slovakia.
[3] The exact wording of the tested narrative: “To what extent are you aware of the following news or information? To what extent do you consider the following news to be unreliable or credible? – Western countries are trying to cause a coup d’état in Slovakia in order to remove the government of Robert Fico (SMER) resulting from the 2023 elections.”
[4] These values are based on questions to determine the reach and credibility of selected true and false narratives from the CEDMO Trends survey.
THE THEMATIC REPORT IS also AVAILABLE IN THE FOLLOWING VERSIONS
- CEDMO Special Brief (data Czech Republic, Slovakia) – in Czech
- CEDMO Special Brief (data Czech Republic, Slovakia) – in Slovak
- CEDMO Special Brief (data Czech Republic, Slovakia) – in English
*CEDMO Trends offers exceptional insight into the evolution of the population’s consumption behaviour of different types of media content, focusing on different types of information disorders such as misinformation and disinformation. These not only undermine public trust in the institutions necessary for the functioning of a pluralistic democracy, but can also amplify individual infodemias. It is being carried out in the Czech Republic by the research agency Median for the Central European Digital Media Observatory (CEDMO) on a representative sample of 2,700-3,000 respondents aged 16 and older.
*In Slovakia, it is carried out by the research agency IPSOS on a representative sample of 1,600-2,300 respondents aged 16 and older.
*Research CEDMO TRENDS is in the Czech Republic funded under project 1.4 CEDMO 1 – Z220312000000 Support for increasing the impact, innovation and sustainability of CEDMO in the Czech Republic. Data collection in Slovakia was financed by the National Recovery Plan under the MPO project 60273/24/21300/21000 CEDMO 2.0 NPO.