Did the Slovak delegation of administrative state employees and non-governmental organizations representatives go to Brussels to ask the European Union and NATO to intervene in Slovak parliamentary elections against the political opposition of the current president and a recently fallen government? No, that's not true: No request for an intervention against the Slovak opposition has been proposed, the Slovak Police officials declare: "No such request was made at the meeting with NATO colleagues."
The claim appeared in a video on TikTok (archived here) where it was published by @exotickyduch on June 1, 2023, under the title "Ministries and Naď (former minister of Defense) confirmed our claims." In it, Slovak former Prime minister Robert Fico claimed:
This delegation communicated with high representatives of the European Union, they were in the NATO headquarters and asked for intervention in the Slovak elections against the opposition.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Jun 6 14:30:42 2023 UTC)
This claim has appeared in other variations, presented by the former Slovak Prime minister Robert Fico, or other members of his Smer SD political party (For example here, here), or by former presidential candidate and judge Stefan Harabin (here).
A meeting organized by the Representation of the European Commission in Slovakia was held in Brussels in April. The seminar was part of the Sophia project on hybrid warfare. However, these were not conspiratorial meetings, as Smer SD and Robert Fico have suggested in the TikToks, Slovak daily Denník N explained.
It was a standard working trip in the field of hybrid threats, which was attended by state institutions and non-governmental organizations. The structure of which was created during Robert Fico's time as prime minister. According to the spokeswoman of the Representation of the European Commission in Slovakia, Ingrid Ludvikova, it was "an information and familiarisation visit to the Brussels institutions for a group of Slovak experts working on the issue of combating hybrid threats and disinformation."
Despite this information, Robert Fico called it an anti-opposition mission to Brussels and an act of treason, sabotage, and organized crime.
Consequently, as NATO announced its plans to start its information campaign in Slovakia, it's fueled follow-up claims by Robert Fico and his party member Lubos Blaha, stating that NATO is intervening in the Slovak election campaign. "This is an unprecedented intervention of NATO into the election campaign with the aim of influencing voters of Smer SD to run away."
NATO conducts information campaigns on a regular basis, Denník N explained. The Alliance intends to launch one in the coming weeks - this time thematically targeting Russia's war against Ukraine. The title of the campaign is "Why Ukraine Matters" and the aim is to increase the support of the Slovak public for aid to Ukraine in its defense against the invading Russia. It has nothing to do with Fico's party Smer SD. NATO has a natural interest in public support within its member states.
