Minister of the Interior Matúš Šutaj Eštok and Government Office Chief Juraj Gedra, now influential in state communication and hybrid threat response, began as fake commenters for Slovakia’s ruling Smer party. In 2010, new profiles with fake identities appeared on Facebook and media sites, defending Smer and attacking the opposition as part of a coordinated campaign.
Members of the Young Social Democrats (MSD) managed these activities, including Šutaj Eštok, who used the profile tosma3 on sme.sk. These commenters used similar arguments, supporting each other to sway public opinion.
In 2013, investigative articles revealed emails directing these fake commenters to spread pro-Smer content and criticize the opposition. Šutaj Eštok’s profile tosma3 frequently attacked journalists and opposition figures, using derogatory terms and copying content from Smer documents. Tosma3 remained active until the 2010 elections and reappeared in 2011 to support Smer before the snap elections.
The sender of these instructional emails, known as Imrich Vladár or G12, was a pseudonym. Two former Young Social Democrats members revealed it was Juraj Gedra, now the head of the Government Office. Gedra directed the topics, assigning which articles to comment on, what blog posts to write, and which positive news about Smer to spread. The nickname G12 derived from the Smer youth organisation’s address at Gunduličova 12 in Bratislava. Gedra, MSD chairman from 2013 to 2017, was an assistant to MP Andrej Kolesík and Anton Martvoň. When contacted, Gedra did not respond and spent a half-hour call attacking Denník N and other journalists.
In 2015, Šutaj Eštok became Gedra’s deputy in the Young Socialists and a senior state official under Peter Pellegrini at the Ministry of Education. After journalist Ján Kuciak’s murder, when Pellegrini became Prime Minister, he made Šutaj Eštok head of the Government Office. When Pellegrini founded Hlas, Šutaj Eštok joined him. Gedra stayed with former Prime Minister Robert Fico in Smer and is now one of the “young Smer wolves” with Erik Kaliňák and Richard Glück. After last year’s elections, Gedra became head of the Government Office, responsible for the new state strategic communication concept, initiating purges and launching the “I Respect Different Opinions” campaign.
After Pellegrini’s election as President, Šutaj Eštok became Hlas’s chairman. As Minister of the Interior, he oversees the Centre for Combating Hybrid Threats. Both have significant influence on state communication and enhancing resilience to hybrid threats.
Quick Career Moves
In 2012, fresh law graduate Gedra secured a lucrative position at the National Property Fund. After its dissolution, he worked at its successor, MH Manažment, until 2017 when a scandal erupted over a multi-million-euro fee awarded to Radomír Bžán’s law firm. In March this year, the special prosecutor’s office charged Gedra. According to prosecutor Lucia Bizoňová, the state incurred over €29 million in damages due to unfavourable contracts. Gedra denied wrongdoing.
Other Fake Commenters in Positions
In 2010, Smer lagged in adopting social media, as its voters primarily used traditional media. Former Prime Minister Fico also influenced Slovak Television, managed by Štefan Nižňanský, now a disinformation magazine author. SaS, led by Richard Sulík, was seen as a modern internet party, having over 50,000 Facebook fans by the 2010 elections. In contrast, Smer’s Facebook page, created in April 2010, garnered only a few hundred fans by June.
The Young Social Democrats helped with Smer’s online campaign, launching the website zradili.sk listing “seven sins of the right-wing government.” They used fake bloggers to post articles following Gedra’s instructions, which commenters then spread in discussions. Dozens of people were involved; some worked for free, while others were paid €200 per month.
Some young socialists wrote articles under their names. In March 2010, Gedra’s email listed “blog topics for this week,” including criticizing SaS’s program and questioning Iveta Radičová’s leadership potential. Young social democrat Ján Hrubý subsequently published a blog titled “Iveta Radičová – Leader of the Opposition Candidate List,” questioning her political views and leadership.
Today, Hrubý is the General Secretary of the Service Office at the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development, and Informatization. He also did not respond to questions.
Source: Filip Struhárik, Denník N.
Photo credit: TASR
