Slovakia is at a turning point. The Prime Minister, Robert Fico, has been signalling a tilt towards a pro-Russian style of governing. However, with widespread peaceful protests across the country, is this plan working? Investigative journalist, Tomáš Madleňák, speaks to Emily Tamkin and Tom Hamilton about Fico’s Slovakia and why this shift to electoral authoritarianism is so concerning.

Here are the Trike Recommendations from this episode:

• https://vsquare.org/vladimir-putin-robert-fico-kremlin-visit-moscow-social-media-viral-posts-inauthentic-accounts/
• https://vsquare.org/donate/
• https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/opinion/trump-musk-federal-government.html
• https://www.amazon.com/Democracy-Its-Critics-Robert-Dahl/dp/0300049382

Subscribe below to our contributors' Substacks:

• ET Write Home by Emily Tamkin (via Emily's Substack you can also listen to an ad-free version of the show)
• India Inside Out by Rohan Venkat
• Dividing Lines by Tom Hamilton

The Political Tricycle is a Podot podcast.

It's presented by Emily Tamkin, Tom Hamilton and Rohan Venkat.

Executive Producer: Nick Hilton.

For sales and advertising, email [email protected]

To watch a video version of the show, go to COOLER.NEWS

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.