Fico Isolated As MEPs Target Funds

When Hungary came under EU pressure over democratic backsliding, Viktor Orbán could rely on Poland and Slovakia to soften the consequences. Robert Fico no longer has that kind of cover. The European Parliament voted 347 to 165 to demand that the European Commission freeze Slovakia’s EU funding, pointing to what it describes as the systematic dismantling of the country’s anti-corruption institutions (European Parliament, n-tv).

For Maltese readers, the mechanism matters as much as the accusation. This is the strongest rule-of-law confrontation with a sitting EU government since Hungary’s funds were frozen in 2022. In a country where the 2021 public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination found state responsibility, the link between institutional capture and EU enforcement is not theoretical.

What Fico Tore Down

The resolution lists concrete institutional damage. Slovakia abolished its Special Prosecutor’s Office and National Criminal Agency, the two bodies that investigated high-level corruption. Changes to the criminal code reduced penalties for graft, while corruption prosecutions fell sharply. The government also plans to replace the independent whistleblower authority with a body whose chief would be appointed by the parliamentary speaker (European Parliament, Aktuality.sk).

Parliament wants the Commission to activate the conditionality mechanism, a 2020 regulation allowing the EU to freeze funds when rule-of-law failures put the EU budget at risk. It also called for infringement proceedings, the formal legal route used when a member state is accused of breaching EU law.

Daniel Freund, the German Green MEP who led the resolution, described fund freezes as "a more effective weapon" than Article 7, the EU’s political "nuclear option" that requires unanimity and has never been fully used. His CDU colleague Niclas Herbst backed the move, creating an unusual Green-Conservative front (EUobserver).

No Allies Left

Fico’s position differs from earlier rule-of-law battles because he is isolated. Hungary’s new prime minister Péter Magyar, who defeated Orbán in April, voted for the resolution. His Tisza party linked any revival of the Visegrád Four (Hungary, Poland, Czechia and Slovakia) to Fico meeting demands on Hungarian minority rights in Slovakia (Telex).

Hungary, once Slovakia’s closest ally in resisting EU enforcement, is now backing pressure on Bratislava. Magyar’s election removed the last regional government willing to shield Fico.

Poland’s Donald Tusk has supported EU rule-of-law enforcement since taking office in 2023. Czech MEPs from government parties voted in favour; only Andrej Babiš’s opposition ANO sided with Fico (ČT24). The V4, once a reliable shelter for democratic backsliders, is now being used to press one of its own.

The Commission’s Move

The resolution is not binding. Only the Commission can trigger the conditionality mechanism, and the Council of EU governments, where ministers from all member states vote, must approve any freeze by qualified majority. That matters because no single country can save Fico with a veto.

The politics are more favourable for enforcement than they were during the Hungary dispute. The governments most likely to oppose action have changed, and Parliament has now given the Commission a clear political mandate.

The Commission has already taken preliminary steps: infringement proceedings over constitutional amendments in November 2025 and over whistleblower protection changes in January 2026 (n-tv). It has not yet committed to full activation. A spokesperson said Brussels "will not hesitate to use all instruments", a phrase that keeps every option open without promising any of them (Brussels Watch).

The Hungary precedent makes the next move more difficult. The Commission froze a large share of Hungary’s EU funds under the same mechanism, then released part of the money without verified reforms. Applying conditionality to Slovakia now tests whether the instrument is a consistent budget safeguard or a political bargaining chip.

Slovakia’s financial exposure is serious. The country relies heavily on EU cohesion and recovery funds, the money Brussels uses to narrow gaps between richer and poorer regions and to finance post-pandemic reforms. The EU’s anti-fraud office OLAF had already cut €1.225 million from Slovakia’s allocation in May 2025 over irregularities, while a full conditionality freeze would be far more damaging.

President Peter Pellegrini, Fico’s coalition partner, called the vote an "international shame" but predicted that funds would not actually be frozen (Aktuality.sk).

The vote gives the Commission political cover to act. Whether it uses that cover will show how seriously Brussels takes the tools it created after the Hungary crisis. Fico, unlike Orbán when V4 solidarity was still intact, has no neighbouring government left to negotiate on his behalf.