Small States, Heavy Pressure: Hungary and Slovakia in the Crosshairs of Liberal Power

This paper examines the information and opinion campaigns conducted against the governments of Hungary, under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and Slovakia, under Prime Minister Robert Fico, waged by foreign governments and NGOs and the EU itself. Both are small, post-communist states bordering war-torn Ukraine. Both governments are widely described as sovereigntist and sceptical of EU federal mandates. Both feature long-serving leaders who have endured significant political controversy.
Among European governments in power as of this writing (January 2026), those in Hungary and Slovakia are uniquely subject to pressure campaigns from Brussels and other liberal Western capitals. This paper aims to present critical interpretations of two uniquely maligned governments in a manner unlikely to be encountered in Western corporate media.