Slovak Government: The European Commission’s Report on the Rule of Law is Inaccurate in Many Ways

Bratislava – This year’s report on the rule of law from the European Commission (EC) was prepared using inappropriate methodology and contains substantive inaccuracies in the section on the rule of law situation in Slovakia. This was stated by the government of the Slovak Republic in a document responding officially to the Rule of Law Report 2025. The government’s response was approved by the cabinet at its Wednesday meeting. The Commission is criticized, for example, for using non-governmental organizations as relevant sources without proper verification, TASR reports.

“We consider the report, compared to previous years, to be somewhat more balanced and factual; on the other hand, we perceive that it contains several, including fundamental, inaccuracies and incomplete information, almost all of which are unfavorable to the Slovak Republic,” states the approved document submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic (MZVEZ).

The Chairwoman of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic Marcela Kosová stated in a statement on August 14 that this year’s EC report on the state of the rule of law in Slovakia was more objective than in previous years, and the Judicial Council has nothing to criticize.

According to the government’s position, Slovak authorities were given the opportunity to express their opinions and provide relevant inputs, but the government considers the final form of the report to be “in many respects incomplete, inaccurate, and not reflecting the actual state in the Slovak Republic.” The Commission is often too general in its assessments of progress, according to the Slovak government, and lacks detailed justification.

Non-governmental organizations are, according to the government, politically engaged and in a conflict of interest – their statements are incomplete, inaccurate, or untrue

The government considers the use of non-governmental organizations, which are politically engaged and in a conflict of interest, as relevant sources “without any consideration of the context of their funding and political activities” to be a fundamental objection.

The government criticizes the uncritical acceptance of statements from these NGOs, even after a “thorough and justified” warning from the Office of the Government of the Slovak Republic that their statements are incomplete, inaccurate, or untrue. In contrast, the EC, according to the government, took minimal account of the Slovak government’s position and ignored most of the comments, failing to mention even fundamental facts or only mentioning them in footnotes, unlike the information provided by NGOs.

The EC also, according to the Slovak government, did not adhere to the methodological principles it set for itself in preparing the report. The annual reports of the EC should, according to the Slovak government, be adjusted to give greater weight to verified facts than to political considerations.

“The shortcomings in the methodology and procedures of the Commission in preparing the report were identified not only by the government but also by the European Court of Auditors, which provides several recommendations for improving the preparation process,” claims the government cabinet. (August 20)