IS GOD A POPULIST?
ulation, almost half a million, out of just over five million inhabitants. National populists question whether their loyalty to neighbouring Hungary, rather than their loyalty to the Slovak Republic, could be a (potential) threat to the territorial integrity of the Slovak Republic. However, since representatives of the Hungarian minority form part of the governing coalition152 alongside the Slovak National Party, this issue is not currently as divisive as it has been in the past.153 Another topic related to ethnicity has come into the spotlight—the Roma—Slovakia’s second largest national minority (100,000 inhabitants).154 This group has been the focus of the populist rhetoric, both of governing populists and nationalists as well as populists and extremists from the political opposition, in particular over the past 10-15 years. The issues surrounding Roma people are linked to economics. The majority of the Roma population receive help from the state’s social welfare system.155 This labels them as being scroungers of the system, an image that is periodically used by the populists.156 In addition to the topics mentioned above, populists thrive on debates on immigration157, sexual minorities and gender issues.Some populists also argue that Western liberalism and Western capitalism threaten the domestic Slovak economy as multinational companies become more powerful than the state.158 Quite often this is coupled with suspicion towards third-sector organisations (NGOs), which is part of a global trend, and as mentioned above, an independent media. Critical journalists are portrayed as being tools of the undefined evil elites and foreign forces that threaten Slovak identity. These allegations, including by members of the governing coalition, are accompanied by conspiracy theories and alternative media. In the public debate on populism (e.g. newspapers and TV
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