Petőcz Kálmán (szerk.): National Populism and Slovak - Hungarian Relations in Slovakia 2006-2009 (Somorja, 2009)
Grigorij Mesežnikov: National Populism in Slovakia - Defining the Character of the State and Interpreting Select Historic Events
National Populism in Slovakia... proposed solutions to Czechoslovakia’s constitutional system that went beyond the framework of the existing federative model. After scoring a resounding success in the 1992 elections, the HZDS became the principal political force behind the ‘velvet divorce’ in Slovakia; ever since 1993, it has portrayed itself as “the architect of Slovak statehood”. Ever since its emergence, the HZDS presented itself as a “nationally oriented” and “pro-Slovak” political force. In the most flagrant form, its ‘national’ orientation was furthered by a group of party leaders whose views regarding issues such as interethnic relations, the country’s history, the government’s character, etc. were not essentially different from those shared by SNS leaders. Between 1992 and 1998, this group of HZDS officials enjoyed the broadest space to pursue their activities and influence the party’s actions as well as its program and ideological profile. Between 1994 and 1998, the HZDS was the backbone of the ruling coalition whose authoritarian methods were incompatible with values of liberal democracy, which caused serious democratic deficits in the country’s internal development and undermined its integration aspirations. By 1998, though, the nationalist wing began to lose its grip due to gradual electoral and general political debilitation of the HZDS. Eight years in the opposition brought about a dramatic decline in voter support and forced the party to regroup. Eventually, the ‘nationally oriented’ wing was elbowed out of the party; however, the departure of nationalist leaders and authentic upholders of the ‘national’ agenda does not mean that the HZDS cannot be considered a party of national populism anymore. The third important representative of national populism in Slovakia is SMER-Social Democracy (SMER-SD) that declares its social-democratic orientation. The party was founded in 1999 by Robert Fico, former Vice- Chairman of the Party of Democratic Left (SDL) who refused to toe the party line and moved on to fulfil his own political and leadership ambitions. SMER-SD has covered a remarkable journey since its founding, moving from the initial concept of a “non-ideological party of pragmatic solutions” to a third-way party that according to its leaders amalgamated values of conservatism, social democracy and liberalism (yet later those of “leftists, social democrats and national liberals”) and finally to a party with proclaimed social-democratic profile. From the very outset, the nationalist element has been popular among SMER-SD leaders. It has manifested through their adoption of “pro-Slovak” (i.e. pro-national) positions on issues concerning interethnic and international relations, interpretation of various historic events and figures, general perception of society’s development after the fall of communism and pursued alliance strategies. When seeking a viable ideo-43
