The election campaign in Slovakia have lacked genuine European political debate, analysts in Bratislava stressed, as quoted in the press. They add that instead of presenting their positions on topical European issues, most political parties promised to defend "national" or "Slovak" interests in Europe.
Slovak-Hungarian relations have been at the centre of the debate. Government coalition parties criticised opposition ethnic Hungarian party SMK for raising the issue of minority rights in Slovakia in the European Parliament. Recently, MEPs posed written questions on the worsening situation of the Hungarian ethnic minority in Slovakia.
"If SMK did not have any representatives in the European Parliament, we would be at peace," said Boris Zala, who heads the list for the SMER-SD party (a member of the Party of European Socialists) led by Prime Minister Robert Fico, during the campaign.
But SMK hit back, with representatives saying that Fico was playing the Hungarian card in an attempt to divert attention from corruption scandals that are plaguing his cabinet.
Adopting the most radical tone, Ján Slota, leader of the Slovak National Party (SNS), a nationalist political force expected to be represented in the next Parliament, suggested that Slovakia "will in fact have less than 13 MEPs" because SMK members "do not represent Slovak interests".
His words were mirrored on the Hungarian side by opposition leader Viktor Orbán, who is affiliated to the European People's Party (EPP). The elections will decide "how many MEPs will represent in Brussels the Hungarians living in the Carpathian Basin," he said at the election meeting, accompanied by SMK leaders. His words were criticised by two Slovak opposition parties (SDKÚ-DS and KDH), which said they would raise the issue in the EPP.
After a stormy discussion in the Slovak Parliament on 3 June, MPs approved a declaration condemning "recurring nationalist statements by Hungarian opposition party Fidesz chairman Viktor Orbán". According to the text, the Hungarian politician had cast "doubt upon the territorial integrity of Slovakia" and caused "instability in Central Europe".
Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič added to the flow of nationalist rhetoric. In a speech on 3 June, he said it was important to vote because "we could elect MEPs who would act in the European Union as one block and defend the Slovak interests".
"We cannot pretend that it does not concern us […] especially after our experience from the last term, when not all our MEPs defended the interests of Slovakia responsibly. On the contrary, they were contributing to our wrong picture in the European Parliament," Gašparovič said.
