Slovakia was in dire straits on Wednesday following the assassination of Prime Minister Roberto Fico. Slovakia is a relatively young country whose history is closely linked to its central European neighbors.
Slovakia is one of two countries that emerged from the former Czechoslovakia when the Soviet Union collapsed at the end of the 20th century.
Czechoslovakia was a multi-ethnic country established at the end of World War I and experienced dismemberment by the Nazis and more than forty years of communist rule. But during the collapse of communism in the late 1980s and early 1990s, independence movements emerged across the Soviet Union, and a series of largely peaceful protests known as the “Velvet Revolution” led Czechoslovakia first toward independence and then toward secession, Often referred to as the “Velvet Revolution.” velvet divorcetwo countries remain: the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
After several years of economic and political turmoil after independence, Slovakia joined the European Union and NATO in 2004 and adopted the euro in 2009. national identitythere are still some tensions with the Czech Republic, whose richer, bigger neighborswhose population is approximately twice that of Slovakia’s population of 5 million.
Like much of Europe, Slovakia has been deeply polarized over the past decade. Mr. Fico has been one of the country’s leading politicians since its independence. forced to resign In 2018, the murder of a journalist investigating government corruption sparked widespread protests.
He was re-elected last fall Adopting a pro-Russian campaign stance Capitalizing on Slovakia’s historical sympathy for Russia.
