to Central Europe

half-truth and obvious lies. The list is continuously growing as new, similar websites continue to
emerge.
There are several websites in Slovakian promoting clearly conservative values, for instance
Fórum života (Forum of Life, www.forumzivota.sk), Life News (www.lifenews.sk), or Inštitút Leva
XIII (Institute of Leo XIII, http://www.instituteofleoxiii.org). It must be stressed that all these
organizations and sites have their own roots in the traditional social-conservatism of the Catholic
Church and represent its radical wing. They have strong links to similar groups in both Western
Europe and the USA, and their cooperation with Russian partners is relatively new and limited. In
December 2013, Fórum života (Forum of Life) enthusiastically informed that “33 countries”
expressed support for the new Russian law on child protection. 161 Furthermore, the Institute of
Leo XIII initiated an anti-EU petition to “Stop Euroval.” 162 On lifenews.sk, pro-Russian positions
have an entire section. 163
Anonymous interviewees, including two experts on right-wing extremism, one on pro-Russian
conspiracy theories and social media, another one on gender equality, and a fourth one on LGBTQ
movement, identified “ideological patterns” used for the projection of Russia’s influence in
Slovakia in specific communities. In case of the radical-nationalist and extremist scene these
patterns include, for example, references to the traditions of Russian-Slovak relations, recalling
the legacy of Ľudovít Štur, a pro-Russian „national revivalist” of the 19 th century, evoking myths
of pan-Slavic solidarity between the countries. Another Russian concept is the traditionalist view
of family against Western “gender ideology,” which allegedly forces authorities in Western
countries to take children from their parents and give them to homosexuals for adoption. As the
expert on pro-Russian social media has put it:
“The aim of this (ideological, the editor) stream is to turn the Slovak public against the EU, liberal
democracy, the European understanding of human rights and the principle of equality between
men and women.”
Conservative Slovak Christians is another group drawn into the Kremlin’s value agenda which
includes such motivational factors in Russian public life as the “conservatism” of state policy,
“state” church, „return to the family“. Another expert argued that “Putin helped himself extremely
in the eyes of conservative Catholic believers by his brutal crackdown against Pussy Riot. The
whole case has contributed to the acquisition of sympathy from many Catholic believers to Russia
and to Putin in unexpected forms”. Conservative Catholics regarded the performance of the group
as „insulting to the faith“. Putin became a guardian of conservative values and morality in their
eyes.
Institutions
Institutional background for Russia’s influence in Slovakia is constituted by political parties, nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) and other actors.
Political parties
Slovenská národná strana [Slovak National Party, SNS], with Anton Danko as the chairman, is a
nationalist political formation (outside of parliament in 2012 – 2016) with traditionally pro-
Russian and anti-Western stances that the party expressed till the very last time. It emphasizes
traditional values, Christian morality, family, and usually expresses homophobic attitudes. SNS
was re-elected to Parliament in March 2016. After entering the ruling coalition with Smer-SD and
two minor center-right parties in March 2016, SNS stresses that it supports the “Euro-Atlanticist”
161 See: http://www.forumzivota.sk/2013/09/08/3353/
162 See: http://www.stopeuroval.sk/
163 See: http://www.lifenews.sk/category/country/rus
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