Democracy in Slovakia has reportedly decreased

The quality of democracy in Slovakia has decreased over the last five years, is the conclusion of a survey of 80 experts conducted by the Institute for Economic and Social Reforms (INEKO). According to the Institute's director, Peter Goliaš, 35 of them labelled the decrease as 'mild', 17 'moderate' and 5 respondents think that democracy has worsened significantly in the country. The survey identified a number of possible causes for this decline: the failure to investigate allegations of corruption in high places, such as the "Gorila" and "Bašternák" affairs, the rise of the far right "People's Party - Our Slovakia" and its leader, Marian Kotleba, and, thirdly, politicians' reactions to the migration crisis and problems in the justice sector. The research was conducted via electronical questionnaires which were sent out to 200 experts. Some of the best known of the 81 respondents are journalists Konštantín Čikovský and Lukáš Fila of the Denník N daily, politician Magda Vášáryová, political scientists Grigorij Mesežnikov and Darina Malová, sociologist Soňa Somolányi, expert in the field of extremism Daniel Milo and the president's advisor on justice issues Ján Mazák.