Headlines
Slovakia tightens rules for non-profits in move they see as inspired by Russia
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 16, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 16, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 24, 2026
Slovakia's parliament passed a law tightening NGO regulations, seen as Russian-inspired. Critics argue it targets civil sector critics.
By Jan Lopatka
(Reuters) - The Slovak parliament approved a law on Wednesday tightening reporting and other requirements for non-governmental organisations, changes those organisations called "Russian law" in which the government was settling scores with critics from the civil sector.
The law orders non-governmental organisations to detail their donors and publish wide lists of officials, and introduces fines for administrative errors.
The government, led by pro-Russian Prime Minister Robert Fico, has long accused non-governmental organisations of supporting the liberal opposition and foreign interests, taking aim at those getting funding from a foundation set up by U.S. philanthropist George Soros.
In the sharply polarised Slovak society, Fico blamed civic organisations for planning to escalate peaceful public protests against his government's policies, a charge they denied.
"Non-governmental organisations are a grey zone, they do politics, draw money from around the world and no one knows what they do with it," ruling party SMER-SSD Richard Glück told a news conference on Monday.
Fico's party had originally planned more far-reaching changes, including labelling non-government organisations as "organisations with foreign support" like those in Russia or Georgia, provoking a warning from the European Commission.
Other changes, including labelling non-profits meeting officials as lobbyists and allowing the interior ministry to dissolve them for administrative errors, were blocked on Wednesday by Fico's allies in parliament.
Non-governmental organisations have said the law was meant to intimidate, could breach constitutional rights and went against rulings by Europe's Court of Justice.
"We call it a Russian law not because it is a copy of the Russian one but it was inspired by Russia and in variety with the constitution and EU law," said Katarina Batkova, director of Via Iuris, an organisation dealing with human rights.
"The proposed measures have clear aim: stigmatisation and limiting activities of civil organisations," she told Reuters by telephone.
The country's public rights defender Robert Dobrovodsky and Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty have written to parliamentarians to reconsider the law.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka in Prague, editing by Ed Osmond)
The article discusses Slovakia's new law tightening regulations on non-governmental organizations, seen as inspired by Russian policies.
Critics argue it targets NGOs critical of the government and is inspired by Russian policies, potentially breaching constitutional rights.
Robert Fico is the pro-Russian Prime Minister of Slovakia, whose government has pushed for the new NGO regulations.
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