People's Party Our Slovakia ( sk, Ľudová strana naše Slovensko, ĽSNS) is a

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

. The party claims to derive its origin from the legacy of Ľudovít Štúr,

Andrej Hlinka Andrej Hlinka (born András Hlinka; 27 September 1864 – 16 August 1938) was a Slovak Catholic priest, journalist, banker, politician, and one of the most important Slovakian public activists in Czechoslovakia before the Second World War. He ...

and

Jozef Tiso Jozef Gašpar Tiso (; hu, Tiszó József; 13 October 1887 – 18 April 1947) was a Slovak politician and Roman Catholic priest who served as president of the Slovak Republic, a client state of Nazi Germany during World War II, from 1939 to 194 ...

. Positioned on the

of the

political spectrum A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more geometric axes that represent independent political dimensions. The expressions politi ...

, Kotleba - People's Party Our Slovakia's political platform expresses

xenophobic Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

and antiziganist rhetoric,

Christian fundamentalism Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and ...

paternalism Paternalism is action that limits a person's or group's liberty or autonomy and is intended to promote their own good. Paternalism can also imply that the behavior is against or regardless of the will of a person, or also that the behavior expres ...

and

economic interventionism Economic interventionism, sometimes also called state interventionism, is an economic policy position favouring government intervention in the market process with the intention of correcting market failures and promoting the general welfare of ...

, interest-free national loans, replacement of the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

currency with the

Slovak koruna The Slovak koruna or Slovak crown ( sk, slovenská koruna, literally meaning ''Slovak crown'') was the currency of Slovakia between 8 February 1993 and 31 December 2008, and could be used for cash payment until 16 January 2009. The ISO 4217 code w ...

, strengthening of law and order, rejection and criminalization of same-sex

civil unions A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

and

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...

, and strong

anti-establishment An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...

sentiment, most notably against Slovakia's current foreign and domestic policy. The party proposes to reduce the number of MPs from 150 to 100, restrict the expression of "degenerate material" in media, establish a home guard militia with the goal of cracking down on "gypsy criminality", promote a

corporatist Corporatism is a collectivist political ideology which advocates the organization of society by corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, on the basis of their common interests. The ...

mixed economy A mixed economy is variously defined as an economic system blending elements of a market economy with elements of a planned economy, markets with state interventionism, or private enterprise with public enterprise. Common to all mixed economie ...

, prohibit

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

conducted in the second and third trimester, institute a national health service, subsidize families in accordance to their fertility and race, and withdraw the Slovak military from foreign operations. In addition, it advocates for Slovakia's departure from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

, the European Monetary Union, and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

, and agitates for closer ties with the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and the

CSTO The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. The Collective Security Treat ...

Party's names

* : Party of the Friends of Wine ( sk, Strana priateľov vína, SPV) * : People's Party of Social Solidarity ( sk, Ľudová strana sociálnej solidarity, ĽSSS) * : People's Party Our Slovakia ( sk, Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko, ĽSNS) * : Kotleba – People's Party Our Slovakia ( sk, Kotleba – Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko, KĽSNS) * From : Kotlebists – People's Party Our Slovakia ( sk, Kotlebovci – Ľudová strana naše Slovensko, KĽSNS)

History

The origins of the party are closely related to the nationalist Slovak Togetherness organization. The members of the movement tried to run in the 2006 elections under the name Slovak Togetherness – National Party, which was forcibly dissolved by the Supreme Court on grounds of anti-constitutional and anti-democratic activities. Instead of founding an entirely new party, former members of Slovak Togetherness under the leadership of Marian Kotleba hijacked the tiny Party of the Friends of Wine that had existed since 2000, changed its name to People's Party of Social Solidarity in May 2009, and then finally altered it to People's Party – Our Slovakia in early 2010. This was done to avoid the legal difficulties with registering a new party under this name given that a different party called Our Slovakia already existed.

Ties to fascism and far-right extremism

The party is classified by politicians, academics, media outlets, and political scientists as being

fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

in nature. This is due to several members of the party being connected to extremist movements such as the Slovak Brotherhood, including Marian Kotleba himself. Party MPs requested a minute of silence for

to be held in parliament. This request was denied. Tiso was the president of the

Slovak State Slovak may refer to: * Something from, related to, or belonging to Slovakia (''Slovenská republika'') * Slovaks The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group ...

, a clerofascist republic which existed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and served as a satellite state to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. He supported and actively put laws in place that discriminated against Jews, and made the country pay

to deport Slovak Jews during

the Holocaust in Slovakia The Holocaust in Slovakia was the systematic dispossession, deportation, and murder of Jews in the Slovak State, a client state of Nazi Germany, during World War II. Out of 89,000 Jews in the country in 1940, an estimated 69,000 were murdered ...

. The party still celebrates 14 March, the anniversary of the founding of the Slovak State. Kotleba attended a march while dressed in a uniform resembling the ones worn by the Hlinka Guard, described Jews as "devils in human skin", and promoted the conspiracy theory of a

Zionist Occupation Government The Zionist occupation government, Zionist occupational government or Zionist-occupied government (ZOG), sometimes also referred to as the Jewish occupational government (JOG), is an Antisemitic canard, antisemitic conspiracy theory claiming ...

. The party distanced itself from its nostalgia for the Slovak State following failure during the 2006 elections, and instead focused on anti-Roma comments. Kotleba and his party was also described by both the Slovak President

Andrej Kiska Andrej Kiska (; born 2 February 1963) is a Slovak politician, entrepreneur, writer and philanthropist who served as the fourth president of Slovakia from 2014 to 2019. He ran as an independent candidate in the 2014 presidential election in which ...

and Czech President

Miloš Zeman Miloš Zeman (; born 28 September 1944) is a Czech politician serving as the third and current President of the Czech Republic since 2013. He previously served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Cze ...

as fascist. The party denies any connection to fascism. Members of the party have been repeatedly charged with

Holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

, which is a felony in Slovakia. During the 2016 Slovak parliamentary election, the party nominated several controversial and extremist candidates to the National Council, such as an ex-singer of

music bands Krátky proces and Juden Mord and a candidate who openly admired

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

and promoted Hlinka's historical clerofascist

Slovak People's Party Hlinka's Slovak People's Party ( sk, Hlinkova slovenská ľudová strana), also known as the Slovak People's Party (, SĽS) or the Hlinka Party, was a far-right Clerical fascism, clerico-fascist political party with a strong Catholic fundamentali ...

. In May 2017, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Slovak Republic made a proposal to the Supreme Court, requesting the dissolution of the party. The General Prosecutor's Office reasoned this step by pointing to the pro-fascist tendencies of the party, violation of the constitution of the Slovak Republic and violation of Slovak and international laws. The Supreme Court rejected this bid, ruling that the prosecution did not produce sufficient evidence to support the dissolution of the party. During the party's congress meeting on 29 March 2018, a new logo was proposed which replaced the old logo depicting a straight Slovak double-cross which bore a strong resemblance to the logo used by HSĽS and the Hlinka Guard during the First Slovak Republic with the new logo that depicts the classic Slovak double-cross standing atop the

Tatra Mountains The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak () or in Polish () - '' plurale tantum''), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the hi ...

. The party claimed that they changed the logo to distance themselves from fascism, Nazism, or any form of right-wing extremism. In 2019, party MP Milan Mazurek was convicted by the Supreme Court for the racist anti-Roma statements he made on the radio station Rádio Frontinus in 2016. He thus became the first Slovak MP to lose his parliamentary seat as a consequence of being convicted of a deliberate crime, and had to pay a €10,000 fine. Mazurek was re-elected in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

. As of 2020, the party spokesperson was Ondrej Ďurica, a former member of the neo-Nazi band ''Biely Odpor'' (White Resistance). 2020 candidate Andrej Medvecký was convicted of attacking a black man while shouting racist slurs, while another candidate, Anton Grňo, was fined for making a fascist salute. Party leader Marian Kotleba was sentenced by a first-degree court to four years and four months in a lowest-security prison for giving € 1,488 cheques to three families at an event held on 14 March 2017 (crime of supporting and propagating a movement whose aim is the repression of human rights and freedoms, and doing so publicly). He appealed against the verdict.

Program and manifesto

In the manifesto of Kotleba – People's Party Our Slovakia, the party states it wants a "functioning state" that is free from corruption, foreign influences and "larceny of public finance". It seeks to give the general public the power to recall any member of the parliament and it wishes to decrease the total number of seats within the National Council from 150 to 100. Additionally, it wants to introduce a flat tax rate of 15% and stop the financing of campaigns for political parties from the state budget. The party sees the EU and

as "undermining the sovereignty of the Slovak nation", and wants to leave these organizations in order to "give Slovakia complete

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

and not be part of American war crimes and a toy in the hands of foreign superpowers". ĽSNS also advocates the investigation of foreign

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

for possible corruption or unlawful activity, forcing opposition news outlets to be classified as "foreign agents", and to "liberate Slovakia from the slavery of foreign bankers". As for internal security, the party wants to establish a home guard with the intention of "protecting the people in areas where legitimate police forces are not adequate at stopping Gypsy extremists who steal, rape and murder decent people", while also advocating the arming of the populace for the "protection of personal life and private property". The party also wants to make politicians responsible for any criminal or corrupt activity they partake in while being a public servant and to be punished accordingly. In addition, ĽSNS also intends to make police forces undergo training in "illegal settlements" inhabited by the resident Romani populace and "demolish any illegal structures, whether they are black settlements or palaces of the rich". The party seeks to re-establish border controls on each segment of the country's borders and give the parliament the ability to use the army to secure and patrol these borders if necessary. Due to the country's armed forces being small and ill-prepared as a result of conscription being abolished, ĽSNS sees it as necessary to modernize, renew, and increase the size of the Slovak Armed Forces to be able to "effectively protect the nation from any foreign threats when it leaves NATO", to "prevent the hordes of Muslim immigrants from coming to Slovakia", and to "protect

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

and

European culture The culture of Europe is rooted in its art, architecture, film, different types of music, economics, literature, and philosophy. European culture is largely rooted in what is often referred to as its "common cultural heritage". Definit ...

from Islamization". The party plans to give jobs to the long-term unemployed through public works programmes. These jobs would consist of the maintenance of roads, schools, national memorials, hospitals and construction of housing as part of their social policy. The retirement age would be lowered to 60 years and the government would increase financial benefits for mothers with children, with rentable housing being provided to "law-abiding and decent families" and benefits to "non-working gypsy thieves" and "asocials" being cancelled. The party also seeks to nationalize the health care system in order to provide universal comprehensive healthcare for the citizens of Slovakia, as written in the Constitution of Slovakia, and to create one national health insurance organization. Additionally, the party wants to return to a centralized emergency service and to make sure that every ambulance has a physician on board to administer appropriate medical care. Furthermore, the party wants to teach children traditionalist and fundamentalist Christian values, to "protect them from violent media", and to ban the operation of gambling machines in the country, while supporting and subsidizing domestic culture and artists to prevent Slovakia from "descending into a degenerate society made up by

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the su ...

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a si ...

and empty

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...

". The party also seeks to subsidize tertiary education through taxes and eliminate college tuition, effectively introducing free college in Slovakia. In regards to the banking sector, the party intends to nationalize all private banks in the country and create one state-run central bank under the control of the government. The party also wants to nationalize all strategic industries of the country, such as powerplants, steel and automobile manufacturing, mining, agriculture, railways, or public transport. The party wants to assure energy and food self-sufficiency to make the country less dependent on imports by rebuilding the agricultural industry and placing a strong emphasis on locally produced goods. In addition, the party seeks to get rid of bureaucracy and red tape in business to increase growth of domestic companies. The party rejects the TTIP agreement, advocates a departure from the European Monetary Union, and seeks to re-establish the previous currency, the

, in order to give the state and the central bank authority to decide on the country's monetary policy. Moreover, the party advocates for the protection of the environment from pollution and exploitation by implementing conservationist laws and regulations and supporting the research and development of

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

. ĽSNS has also made proposals in parliament for the banning of abortion conducted in the second and third trimester and contraception in Slovakia, and is staunchly opposed to LGBTQ rights, denouncing the LGBTQ community as "freaks and perverts" and pushing for an active crackdown on LGBTQ activists and media, and the party also supports a constitutional ban on LGBTQ partnerships. The party is vocally opposed to liberalism and

Atlanticism Atlanticism, also known as Transatlanticism, is the belief in or support for a close relationship between the peoples and governments in Northern America (the United States and Canada) and those in Europe (the countries of the European Union, ...

, and harbours strong anti-establishment sentiment, rejecting the standard left-right classification and positioning itself as a

syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...

movement. Other policies include opposition to gun control, rejection of same-sex marriages, banning abortions conducted after the third month of pregnancy, withholding of welfare funds for those who refuse to work, ending the financing of NGOs, and protesting NATO convoys passing through Slovakia. In 2019, the party resumed its notorious campaign to collect enough petition signatures to leave the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Views on Roma and migrants

The party sees and describes the unintegrated groups of

Romani people The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic Itinerant groups in Europe, itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have Ro ...

as being a drain on the social security system due to large Roma families receiving a higher amount of benefits for children compared to ethnic Slovaks. This especially applies to illegal Roma settlements, where these "gypsy extremists", as the party calls them, often reside in. Occasionally, the party has said that it wants to crack down on "Gypsy terror", and uses the

Krásna Hôrka Castle The Krásna Hôrka Castle ( sk, Hrad Krásna Hôrka, hu, Krasznahorka vára) is a castle in Slovakia, built on a hilltop overlooking the village of Krásnohorské Podhradie near Rožňava, in Košice Region. The first recorded mention of the c ...

fire of 2012 as an example of "gypsy criminality", whilst using rhetoric that describes the "gypsy extremists" as "social parasites and extremists that steal, rape and murder decent people". According to the party, immigrants from third world countries are "invaders who are supported by globalists to destroy the old continent of Europe". The party is against the acceptance of even a single refugee, stating that "even one is too much", while blaming the EU and the

Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

for alleged "immigrant invasion".

Pro-Russian activities

Marian Kotleba, during his governorship of the

Banská Bystrica region The Banská Bystrica Region ( sk, Banskobystrický kraj, ; hu, Besztercebányai kerület, ) is one of the eight regions of Slovakia. It is the largest region by area, and has a lower population density than any other region. The Banská Bystri ...

, sent a personal letter on January 31, 2014, to

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of D ...

during the Euromaidan revolution in Ukraine, urging him as a "fellow Slav" not to "surrender his country to EU interests, markets and NATO aggression, to stay vigilant against foreign coup d'etats, and to remember what happened to Serbian national heroes such as

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...

". On August 29, 2014, Marian Kotleba hung up a sign saying "Yankees go home! STOP NATO!" on the governor's building in

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other alternative names) is a middle-sized town in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica ...

, demonstrating the party's

anti-Americanism Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...

. On May 5, 2016, the ĽSNS branch located in the Banská Bystrica region hung up a Russian flag in the city of

, to show solidarity with the Russian community in the city and the

Night Wolves The Night Wolves ( rus, Ночные Волки, r=Nochnye Volki) or Night Wolves Motorcycle Club is a Russian motorcycle club that was founded around the Moscow area in 1989. It holds an international status with at least 45 chapters world-wide ...

biker club. which came to commemorate the Russian victory over fascism. The party also sent 3 people, including 1 MP, to commemorate the

Slovak National Uprising The Slovak National Uprising ( sk, Slovenské národné povstanie, abbreviated SNP) was a military uprising organized by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. This resistance movement was represented mainly by the members of the ...

at the SNP monument and museum. However, party leader Marian Kotleba denounced the Allied campaign during the Uprising and indirectly endorsed the pro-Axis

. Several media outlets such as

Pluska Pluska () is a small settlement in the Municipality of Trebnje in eastern Slovenia. It lies west of Trebnje with the A2 motorway running across the settlement's territory. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Carniola and is now i ...

and

Denník N Denník N is a Slovak daily newspaper and a news website which was founded by the former members of the editorial board of SME in 2014. History In 2014, the Namav, a subject subvenced by the Penta Investments group, announced the purchase o ...

accused the party of being financed by Russian intelligence services. The Polish Internal Security Agency ( ABW) was the first to come with this evidence after the arrest of

Mateusz Piskorski Mateusz Andrzej Piskorski (born 18 May 1977) is a far-right Polish people, Polish politician and publicist. Education and professional work In 2001, he graduated in Political Science from the University of Szczecin. In January 2011, he received h ...

. The party denied all of these claims, describing the party's position of neutrality in regards to the United States and Russia, but firmly opposing any aggression against Russia or its government, accusing the US of being the main sponsor of terrorism across the world and NATO of being an actual aggressor against Russia. The

foreign policy of the United States The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the ''Foreign Policy Agenda'' of the Department of State, are ...

is cited by the party as one of the reasons for why the party wants Slovakia to leave NATO. The other reason is the

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...

in 1999. On February 2, 2017, Marian Kotleba and his party spoke against sending a contingent of 152 Slovak soldiers on a NATO training mission in Latvia near the Russian border, stating that it was a clear provocation of the

by NATO. During a voting session on this issue in the Slovak parliament, only his party and SME RODINA voted against sending troops on the NATO mission, while every other party supported it. He also accused the government and opposition of acting like the Nazis and Adolf Hitler in 1941 when he was preparing to attack the Soviet Union before

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

. On June 2, 2017, the party was accused of being financed by Alexander Usovskij from Belarus, after his emails were leaked to the public and were reported on by German broadcaster ZDF. It is said that he was supplying money from the Russian Federation to Eastern European countries, including Slovakia, to support pro-Russian activities and political parties, even mentioning that Usovskij is supporting ĽSNS' work. Usovskij denied that he was in any contact with ĽSNS, but said that he sympathises with the party's activities, agreeing with their bid for a referendum to leave NATO. ZDF also added that he may have been looking for investors that could help the party's campaign in said referendum. An investigation by the National Criminal Agency (The Slovak equivalent of the FBI) found no evidence that ĽSNS was being funded by the Russian government. During his presidential campaign, party leader Marian Kotleba frequently deployed slogans such as "For Slavic brotherhood, against a war with Russia!" on his campaign billboards. Moreover, the party's candidates for the European Parliament, such as Milan Mazurek, uttered the phrase "For cooperation with Russia, against the sanctions!" during their respective campaigns. The Party firmly supports the complete cancellation of all sanctions against the Russian Federation. On May 16, 2019, the Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the extremist policies and tactics of Kotleba-ĽSNS. On July 20, 2019, freshly elected party MEP and a member of the committee for friendship with the Russian Federation, Miroslav Radačovský, spoke alongside Viktor Medvedchuk, a well known Ukrainian conservative pro-Russian politician and oligarch, who was having a conference in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

on the topic named "Plan for the Restoration of Peace in Ukraine". Alongside Radačovský, there were also many other MEPs from other countries, such as Alexandra Phillips and

Nathan Gill Nathan Lee Gill (born 6 July 1973) is a British politician, who was the Leader of Reform UK Wales from March to May 2021, when he resigned from the party. He previously served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wales from 2014 to J ...

of the

Brexit Party Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit, and was briefly a significant ...

, French MEP

Nicolas Bay Nicolas Bay (born 21 December 1977) is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from France. He served as General Secretary of the National Front from 2014 to 2017. He has served as a Regional Councillor for Normandy s ...

of Rassemblement National, Spanish MEP

Javier Nart Javier Nart Peñalver (born 19 August 1947) is a Spanish journalist and politician who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014, currently taking part in the Renew Europe group. From 2012 until 2019, he was a member of Citizens (Cs ...

of the Ciudadanos Movement, and

Tatjana Ždanoka Tatjana Ždanoka or Tatyana Zhdanok (russian: Татья́на Арка́дьевна Ждано́к, ''Tatyana Arkadyevna Zhdanok''; born Tatyana Khesin (''Хесин'') on May 8, 1950 in Riga) is a Latvian politician and a Member of the Europea ...

of the

Latvian Russian Union The Latvian Russian Union (LRU, lv, Latvijas Krievu savienība, russian: Русский союз Латвии, Russkiy soyuz Latvii) (LKS) is a political party in Latvia supported mainly by ethnic Russians and other Russian-speaking minorities. ...

. Many members of the party are known for their sympathy towards the Russian Federation and its allies. Party leader Marian Kotleba is known for his sympathy towards the Russian Federation and the

Syrian Arab Republic Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, as evidenced by his repeated use of pro-Russian slogans during his presidential campaign and his declaration on national television that

Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...

is "a hero of the Middle-East". Kotleba also made trips to Syria, having met with the Syrian Speaker of the House and the Foreign Minister of Syria. It was revealed from the documents found within the governor's office upon Kotleba's departure from Banská Bystrica's governorship that he wanted to send a letter to the Russian ambassador, in which he asked for assistance and personally wrote about his intention to buy a Russian car. MEP Milan Uhrík visited the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

on one occasion and spoke in support of their authoritarian government. Milan Mazurek and Miroslav Radačovský are also known for their Russophilic views. Kotleba also spoke critically of American intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Libya, and Syria, even going as far as to list every instance of United States involvement in regime change in the National Council. On October 13, 2019, Milan Uhrík made a speech in the European Parliament about the situation in Ukraine and the ongoing conflict in Donbass, blaming the United States for orchestrating an alleged coup d'état in Kiev during the Euromaidan protests and the

2014 Ukrainian Revolution The Revolution of Dignity ( uk, Революція гідності, translit=Revoliutsiia hidnosti) also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution,

which ousted Viktor Yanukovych, and then proceeded to condemn the United States and other western nations for allegedly supporting a war between Slavic countries such as Ukraine and Russia, stating that: "We Slavs are not stupid and we don't need American agents, their advice or their wars".

Supporter demographics

The party has little to no support in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

Košice Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of a ...

Nitra Nitra (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of about 78,353, it is the fifth l ...

, Komárno,

Poprad Poprad (; hu, Poprád; german: Deutschendorf) is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatra Mountains, famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. It is the biggest town of the Spiš region and the t ...

, and other major cities, where anti-Kotleba slogans can be found. However the party's message resonates more in smaller towns and rural areas where people feel left behind and disliked by political elites.

Party's names

History

Ties to fascism and far-right extremism

Program and manifesto

Views on Roma and migrants

Pro-Russian activities

Supporter demographics

Election results

National Council

European Parliament

Presidential

Regional

See also

Notes

References

External links