NATIONALIST POPULISM AND POST-COMMUNISM

For instance, while the SDĽ leader Pavel Koncoš argued that “nationalism has become the ‘shopping window’ of the SMK” 181 , Robert Fico from the SMER accused the SMK of pursuing an “anti-Slovak and destabilising” policy 182 . Moreover, despite the fact that the SMK was a coalition partner of the SDKÚ and KDH, the representatives of all three parties took the opportunity to blame their coalition counterparts for playing the ethnic card. One of the most important KDH leaders – František Mikloško – tried to make the Hungarian leaders realise that Slovakia did not form a part of Hungary anymore, and therefore the “Hungarian Parliament is not going to decide her destiny” 183 . Some statements of the Slovak political leaders on the Roma minority turned out to be openly offensive and racist. In particular, the leaders of both the SNS and PSNS contributed to the political discourse on this issue with their own statements. In this regard, Víťazoslav Móric, MP and former leader of the SNS announced his intention to create “reservations for the Roma people” 184 , while Ján Slota from the PSNS suggested offered “Gypsy men who already have enough children the option of sterilisation” 185 . 5.3. Comparison of the Polish and Slovak political discourses 2001–2002: similarities and differences It can be argued that in both Poland and Slovakia, nationalist populist appeals enabled – at least to some extent – the political parties to be successful in the elections. The vast majority of the examined political parties used these appeals in an instrumental manner, although to different extents. The political situation in both countries was significantly influenced by the negotiations with the EU on the full membership. The governments had to meet the criteria set up by the EU and to implement several reforms. Some of these reforms had a negative impact on the economic and social situation of the broader population, and were therefore criticised by the opposition. While in the case of the Polish political discourse, the EU accession became a negative point of reference for several political parties, the Slovak political leaders did not take the opportunity to comment on this issue by using nationalist populist appeals. One possible explanation for this difference could be based on Slovakia’s 181 Statement of Pavel Koncoš from pre-paid advertisement published in Pravda (July 4, 2002), p. 20. 182 Statement of Robert Fico, SMER leader. Pravda (April 16, 2002), p. 2. 183 Statement of František Mikloško, MP. Pravda (February 8, 2002), p. 2. 184 Statement of Víťazoslav Móric, MP and former leader of SNS. Pravda (March 11, 2002), p. 22. 185 Statement of Ján Slota. Pravda (February 22, 2003), p. 3.

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