As Donald Trump and Elon Musk dismantle democratic oversight in the U.S., Slovak Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok is using the same playbook. In a 14 February 2025 Facebook video, Eštok claimed—without evidence—that independent media and NGOs, including Transparency International, Via Juris, and Denník N, were foreign-funded agents working to destabilise Slovakia through covert U.S. financing via USAID.
His accusations mirror Trump and Musk’s disinformation tactics, as documented by Anne Applebaum, who details how Trump imposes loyalty tests on officials, Musk defunded USAID under false pretenses, and both discredit independent media as state enemies. Via Iuris and the Stop Corruption Foundation immediately rejected Eštok’s claims, with Via Iuris confirming it had “not received a single dollar from USAID” and Stop Corruption denouncing the rhetoric as an attempt to silence watchdogs and pressure the press into self-censorship.
Applebaum warns that these strategies are not isolated but part of a growing authoritarian trend seen in Hungary, Poland, and Russia, where governments label NGOs as “foreign agents” to justify crackdowns. By framing independent institutions as foreign operatives, Eštok signals Slovakia’s slide into the same anti-democratic tactics now defining Trump’s America and Putin’s Russia.
In a stunning analysis of democratic backsliding, journalist Anne Applebaum details how Donald Trump’s return to power, alongside Elon Musk’s influence, has accelerated a systematic assault on independent institutions in the United States. Bureaucrats are being subjected to loyalty tests, independent media are being discredited as enemies of the state, and organisations once dedicated to democratic accountability, like USAID, are being gutted under false pretenses. But while these tactics are now dominating Washington, a nearly identical strategy has been unfolding in Slovakia under Robert Fico’s government.
On 14 February 2025, Slovak Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok posted a Facebook video laden with conspiracy theories, claiming—without evidence—that independent media and NGOs were foreign-controlled actors working to destabilise Slovakia. He targeted organisations like Transparency International, Via Juris, and Denník N, alleging that they were secretly financed by the U.S. government via USAID as part of a covert effort to manipulate Slovak politics and spread false narratives.
His claims mirror tactics used by Donald Trump and Elon Musk in the United States, where, as Anne Applebaum documents, government institutions are being purged of independent voices, civil servants are forced into loyalty tests, and alternative facts are manufactured to consolidate power.
Via Iuris swiftly rejected Eštok’s accusations, stating that it had “not received a single dollar from USAID” and that all its funding was acquired transparently through competitive grant processes. The organisation dismissed Eštok’s claims as misleading, emphasising that its financial records are publicly available and independently audited.
Eštok’s attack on USAID as a foreign manipulator is nearly identical to Musk and Trump’s campaign to dismantle the agency in Washington. He presented no evidence for his allegations but framed USAID as a political weapon used by global elites rather than a humanitarian organisation.
Applebaum describes how Musk abruptly cut USAID funding overnight, forcing staff to abandon humanitarian projects, while Trump’s administration spread outright fabrications about its activities. “Simultaneously, Musk launched an administrative and rhetorical attack on USAID, adding cruelty to the hostility,” Applebaum writes, noting that falsely portraying USAID as a political weapon allowed them to justify gutting an institution that had been a cornerstone of international development.
Beyond USAID, Eštok’s broader attack on media independence and civil society closely tracks Trump and Musk’s efforts to erode institutional oversight in the U.S. He implied that Slovakia’s intelligence services had uncovered plots to destabilise the state, a classic pretext that authoritarian regimes often use to justify purges and consolidate power.
The Stop Corruption Foundation also condemned Eštok’s statements, describing them as deliberate disinformation aimed at discrediting NGOs and pressuring the media into self-censorship. The organisation warned that civil society groups were among the few remaining actors holding power accountable and announced legal action against Eštok, citing his alleged violation of election laws.
Applebaum identifies this exact strategy in the United States, where Trump’s administration is demanding ideological loyalty from key government officials, purging those who refuse to comply. “Candidates for national-security posts in the new administration are being asked whether they accept Trump’s false claim to have won the 2020 election,” Applebaum writes, noting that loyalty to a political figure is replacing institutional neutrality in key government positions.
Eštok’s claim that intelligence services had uncovered foreign-backed efforts to destabilise Slovakia raises serious concerns about the potential misuse of security agencies for political ends. Applebaum describes how Trump and Musk have similarly pressured U.S. intelligence services, demanding that they support politically motivated narratives. She notes how Trump repeatedly sought to bend law enforcement agencies to his will, using claims of internal subversion as a pretext for removing career officials and replacing them with loyalists.
Eštok also warned Slovaks to distrust independent journalism altogether, casting it as a tool of foreign influence—just as Musk and Trump have worked to delegitimise U.S.-based investigative media, particularly Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Applebaum details how Musk attacked RFE/RL journalists, calling them ‘radical left crazy people’, employing the same tactic of discrediting non-government narratives to justify tighter media control.
Slovakia’s trajectory under Eštok aligns with a broader European pattern of democratic erosion. While Applebaum focuses on the United States, she also connects the Trump-Musk strategy to illiberal movements across the world, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. She notes that Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Poland’s former ruling PiS party employed similar tactics, using state resources to weaken media independence and reshape institutions in their favour. Russia has taken this even further, branding NGOs and independent journalists as “foreign agents” in an effort to suppress dissent.
Applebaum warns that such strategies are not isolated but part of a growing authoritarian playbook, in which leaders justify dismantling democratic institutions by framing them as tools of foreign interference. In this context, Eštok’s rhetoric signals Slovakia’s increasing alignment with these anti-democratic trends.
The parallels between Slovakia and the United States are striking. Eštok’s video is not merely a political statement but a warning sign of Slovakia’s slide toward the same authoritarian tactics used elsewhere. As Applebaum warns, these attacks are not about ideology—they are about power consolidation, the elimination of independent oversight, and the creation of a controlled reality where only state-sanctioned narratives remain.
Author: Victor Breiner
