Jay Rumas is a master’s candidate and research assistant at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
A former leader, disgraced and ousted from power, longs for his return to the spotlight. Faced with criminal charges for corruption, he has little to lose. He campaigns against vaccines, inflation, migration, and a bloated government. He lambasts foreign aid, and it is one of the first things he terminates after a narrow electoral win. When his main rival, a president who had decided not to run for reelection, leaves office, his power seems unchecked, and he begins going after political enemies and dismantling government offices.
He is not President Trump but Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia, and it is no coincidence that he was received as a hero at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference and met with Elon Musk.
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In fact, his playbook eerily resembles the one being employed in the United States by Trump and his associates. But while Democrats have struggled to oppose Trump’s agenda and disagreed over how to go about it, the opposition in Slovakia has managed to slow Fico down to a much more substantial degree. Democrats should take note.
In 2018, Fico was forced to resign after 10 years in power when Ján Kuciak, an investigative journalist, was murdered along with his fiancée after uncovering connections between several officials in Fico’s inner circle and the Italian mafia.
Prosecutors traced the crime back to Marian Kočner, an oligarch who allegedly had extensive corrupt dealings with senior law enforcement officials. Public outrage turned into street protests that ousted Fico’s government.
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In 2020, a pro-European Union opposition coalition defeated Fico’s party (the Direction party, or Smer), but the victory was short-lived. Confidence in the new coalition government plummeted owing to infighting, scandals, and an inability to address persistent inflation. Fico proved to be a flexible politician who quickly capitalized on public anxiety and misinformation. He condemned COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccination campaigns. He opposed cooperating with American military forces through NATO to shore up security, despite his party having proposed the partnership in the first place. When Russia invaded Ukraine, he appealed to existing pro-Russian sentiment in some corners of the country and opposed providing aid to Ukraine.
Since the Smer party retook the government in 2023, Fico has spent more time consolidating power, dismantling institutions, and chasing ghosts. He and his allies have grown increasingly radical and desperate in the face of strong opposition, accusing dissenters of being Ukrainian-backed “terrorists” trying to organize a coup, and threatening to withdraw Slovakia from NATO and the EU.
As I’ve watched President Trump’s second term unfold, I’ve been struck by the similarity to Fico’s time back in office. But the opposition in each country has employed very different tactics to constrain their respective would-be authoritarians.
In fact, Progressive Slovakia, the largest opposition party, recently surpassed Smer in the polls and won last year’s European Parliament elections. Support for it has quadrupled since 2020 and it is the first progressive party to have a chance of forming a government in Slovak history — a significant feat in one of Europe’s most conservative countries.
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To get here, the party didn’t tread carefully. It hammered Smer in the media and through frequent protests against its corruption. And it has presented a coherent rival vision for the country’s future.
It criticized Fico for focusing more on imaginary Ukrainian coups than a health care crisis and mismanagement in government spending. It mocked his recent stay at a $5,000 per night Vietnamese hotel while a cost-of-living crisis squeezes ordinary people. When Fico visited Putin, Progressive Slovakia led massive street protests that captured attention all over Europe.
The party’s supporters have used humor to keep people engaged: Memes ask Elon Musk to finish a stalled highway project in Slovakia after he conquers Mars — and to move SpaceX headquarters to eastern Slovakia.
Another meme quips that lights shined by protesters must remind a major nationalist coalition leader of his hit-and-run accident with a traffic light last month. Simultaneously, the opposition champions a positive agenda of further European integration, human rights, and funding for key priorities.
The Slovak media has also held its own despite several threats to its independence. Fico has tried to chill reporting in ways reminiscent of Trump’s launch of investigations into NPR and PBS, restricting Associated Press access, and taking control of his press pool.
Fico dismantled Slovakia’s public broadcaster and replaced it with a state-controlled institution, and he has promised to ban prominent media outlets from government offices. However, the country’s largest outlets called his bluff. They continued to show up at government offices and have not shied away from tough coverage to keep or gain access. The result has been promising: The government has backed away from enforcing its ban, and the media outlets are enjoying popular support with news subscriptions increasing dramatically.
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Recently, six members of Parliament who were part of the government’s majority have left Fico’s coalition, depriving it of a ruling majority and throwing the government into crisis. The more time Fico spends putting out his party’s own fires, the less time he has to purge institutions. And if the coalition cannot regain the majority and a snap election is called, Progressive Slovakia and its allies have a real shot at dethroning him.
Democrats should learn from the Slovak opposition. They must first accept that today’s politics and policy making are the new normal. Saying that everything Trump and his allies do is “unprecedented” is not enough. Trump, like Fico, thrives on being seen as a disruptive and contrarian force. The key is to reveal that these figures are out for themselves at our expense, to present a credible rival vision, and to channel frustration into action.
For example, Trump promised to preserve Medicaid, cut spending, battle corruption, and make America safe.
But his new budget resolution, which was narrowly passed by the House, slashes Medicaid to pay for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. He’s also awarding lucrative contracts to his friends while greatly weakening the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration even as they’re needed to cope with several recent disasters.
Every Democratic surrogate should repeat these facts regularly on every channel and in every paper they can. They don’t need more committees or studies; they need voices. Be passionate. Use humor. Organize protests in Republican districts to pressure politicians to vote how their constituents expect them to. At the very least, protests and campaigning will attract voter attention.
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Most important, Democrats need to explain what they would do differently and build trust that they will follow through. Simply relying on voters to be interested in the Democratic status quo has proved to be a losing strategy.
Both Fico and Trump have been beaten before. Spirited opposition has given the new Fico government a run for its money. There’s no reason the Democrats can’t do the same.