Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is facing increasing scrutiny as his government struggles to stay in power following the departure of MPs from the junior coalition party Freedom and Solidarity (SNS) earlier in January. Fico is also engaged in a war of words with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over Kyiv’s decision to halt Russian gas transit through Ukrainian territory, a dispute that has been ongoing since December last year. In addition to these challenges, mass anti-government protests swept across Slovakia last week and over the weekend, fuelled by allegations that the government is shifting its foreign policy towards Moscow at the expense of its commitments to the European Union and NATO.
Considering that it is only February, a series of major and difficult-to-resolve problems lie ahead for the Slovak prime minister. Fico has responded by accusing the opposition and foreign forces—mainly Ukraine—of organizing a coup attempt against him. He claimed that a classified report from the country’s SIS intelligence service revealed serious evidence of a long-term, organized influence operation aimed at destabilizing Slovakia. Later, Fico added that ‘a group of experts is working on Slovak territory, having actively participated in…the [2013–14] uprising in Ukraine…I especially welcome the decision of [United States] President [Donald] Trump to put an end to the financing of these senseless activities in Europe that seriously endanger democracy,’ referring to the Trump administration’s current crackdown on the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is widely regarded as an extended arm of the CIA’s foreign influence operations.
Fico also accused an NGO called Peace for Ukraine of being behind the protests, allegedly in cooperation with the Georgian Legion, a volunteer-based unit fighting against Russia in Ukraine. Slovakia recently banned Georgian Legion commander Mamuka Mamulashvili from entering the country due to alleged links to the coup attempt. The Georgian Legion dismissed the allegations as ‘absurd and groundless’. Notably, Zelenskyy endorsed the anti-government protests, stating: ‘Bratislava is not Moscow, Slovakia is Europe.’
Network Behind the Protests
Not long ago, the Western mainstream could easily dismiss Fico’s claims as yet another right-wing conspiracy theory. However, with Trump’s team exposing USAID’s foreign interference and meddling under the guise of aid and assistance, every anti-government protest targeting sovereignist governments appears more suspicious. And as we have seen many times before, so-called right-wing conspiracy theories often turn out to be true sooner or later—such as the lab leak theory surrounding COVID-19. Fico’s allegations may not be far from reality either.
Slovak conservative newspaper Hlavné Správy has published an investigative report on the recent protests in Slovakia, mapping the network of NGOs behind them. Their findings confirm that Peace for Ukraine played a role in organizing some of the demonstrations, but it was not the primary leader of the network.
Running through the leadership of Peace for Ukraine, several interesting—though unsurprising—connections emerge. One of the key figures in the organization is Andrea Cocherová, former vice-chair of the Slovak Democratic Party. Her involvement signals deep coordination between the leading NGOs behind the protests and the Slovak opposition. Moreover, she has spent a significant portion of her career at Pontis Foundation, a major player in Slovakia’s pseudo-civil society, as Magyar Nemzet previously reported. Pontis is also known for its extensive links to George Soros’s Open Society Foundations (OSF).
Another prominent figure is Marian Kulich, a well-known civic activist with ties to the opposition party Progressive Slovakia (PO) and Team Bratislava, a municipal-level coalition of opposition politicians and candidates.
Lucia Štasselová is also linked to Team Bratislava, Progressive Slovakia, and SNS. She may be a key link between the protests and the Georgian Legion, as she has been photographed alongside its commander, Mamuka Mamulashvili.
However, as Hlavné Správy highlighted in their report, all NGOs involved in organizing the demonstrations are linked to a single umbrella organization: Platform for Democracy (PPD). The paper notes that PPD and its member organizations have actively participated in various civic initiatives and protests since 2017—whenever Robert Fico has been in power.
‘All NGOs involved in organizing the demonstrations are linked to a single umbrella organization: Platform for Democracy’
PPD, unsurprisingly, is linked to Soros’s OSF. The platform enjoys strong media coverage, as it unites organizations with close ties to mainstream media, including major television networks and newspapers. These outlets often present their protests as legitimate citizen initiatives while downplaying or negatively portraying spontaneous protests that do not align with their editorial stance—such as all anti-government demonstrations during progressive-led administrations between 2020 and 2023.
PPD’s extensive European and international networks enable it to gain foreign media attention and influence diplomatic circles more effectively. The initiatives under its umbrella employ professional PR strategies and social media campaigns, ensuring that their narratives reach a wide audience.
Notably, many of the NGOs affiliated with PPD were among the main recipients of US foreign assistance allocated by USAID. One key example is the Otherness Initiative (Iniciatíva Inakosť), which represents the LGBTQ+ community in Slovakia and has received substantial grants over the past three years. In 2023 the nonprofit was awarded 80,000 dollars to support the operation of a full-fledged LGBTQI+ community centre in Bratislava and an additional 21,000 dollars to promote awareness and tolerance toward the LGBTQ+ community in Slovakia. In 2024 it received another 35,000 dollars for its activities.
A Regional Pattern — But Why Is Hungary Unaffected?
There seems to be a clear pattern across the region when it comes to anti-government protests. Currently, three countries—Slovakia, Serbia, and Georgia—are experiencing such demonstrations. All three states and their governments share key characteristics: their stance on the war in Ukraine differs from the mainstream as they advocate for peace and an end to sanctions against Russia; they take a firm stand against woke ideology and gender propaganda; and they have all attempted to counter the influence that foreign-funded NGOs exert on domestic politics.
Moreover, these countries are among the top recipients of USAID-allocated foreign assistance. Georgian Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has accused the US agency of spending over 40 million dollars on meddling in Georgia’s elections through political NGOs. He also claimed that the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a US government-funded NGO closely linked to USAID, directly interfered in Georgian politics between 2020 and 2021.
In Serbia, anti-government protests have been ongoing since November last year, following the deadly collapse of a canopy at the Novi Sad train station. The demonstrations have already led to three high-profile resignations, with Prime Minister Miloš Vučević being the latest to step down last week.
According to Bloomberg Adria, USAID has invested approximately 937 million dollars in Serbia from 2001 to 2024. Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin welcomed the Trump administration’s decision to halt US foreign assistance but noted that it would have little immediate effect on the protests.
‘The money was allocated to the protest leaders earlier, and they will continue to do what they were paid for. The EU has already committed to taking over the financing of the agent network in Serbia, which USAID has been building for a long time. I do not believe that the United States will completely abandon such a mechanism to impose obedient governments and overthrow disobedient leaders. But changes must happen, and until the United States finds a new model, the good news is that the agents will be without new money.’
‘The Hungarian government has successfully built an ecosystem that is resilient to foreign interference’
Despite the fact that Hungary fits this regional pattern perfectly, there have been no major anti-government protests in the country recently. This is largely because the Hungarian government has successfully built an ecosystem that is resilient to foreign interference. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has pushed through key legislation—backed by an overwhelming majority of the electorate—that has been essential in this regard, such as ensuring greater transparency for NGOs and restricting gender propaganda, especially in schools.
As has been the case many times before, Hungary was among the first to recognize the threat posed by USAID-funded NGOs to sovereign nations and acted accordingly. Following the recent exposure of the agency’s operations, it can be expected that legislative measures to counter foreign influence could soon become the new norm—once again proving the saying, well known in Hungarian political discoure: ‘Viktor Orbán is not right; he will be proven right.’
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