Slovakia: New law forces NGOs to disclose their finances!

Slovakia: New law forces NGOs to disclose their finances!

Bratislava, Slowakei - On April 16, 2025, Parliament in Slovakia passed a controversial law that obliges non -governmental organizations (NGOs) to disclose its financial sources. With a narrow majority, the government coalition under Prime Minister Robert Fico voted for the new law, which requires detailed information about the origin of the finances and the identity of the largest donors from NGOs from July. Critics fear that this regulation will restrict civil society institutions and endanger their freedom.

MP Zuzana Plevikova from the Smer Party, which belongs to Fico's government coalition, expressed in parliament that some NGOs are supposedly striving for a violent coup and are financed from abroad. The government had originally planned to mark NGOs as "lobbyists" and "foreign agents". According to a warning from the European Commission, however, the Slovak government withdrew some of its original plans.

legislation and international reactions

The opposition and various NGOs criticize the law violently. They accuse the government of initiating an attempt to intimidate Fico's critics and to bring Slovakia closer to authoritarian patterns, such as being observed in Russia. There are reports that Fico has developed authoritarian tendencies since returning to power in 2023 and puts civil society under pressure by denouncing NGOs as a supporter of foreign interests.

future steps

The new law, which imposes comprehensive requirements for the disclosure of its finances, is expected to come into force on June 1st, unless President Peter Pellegrini does not take a veto. These new regulations also provide for the publication of extensive lists of officials. The FICOS government, on the other hand, describes the law as a step towards transparency, which is rejected by the critics as stigmatization and harassment of government critics.

Similar laws already exist in other countries such as Russia and Hungary, and the political implications of these regulations are observed carefully. The following list shows further details about the innovations that are introduced by the law:

Development in Slovakia is therefore the focus of an intensively guided debate on the role of NGOs and the limits of political freedom in Europe.