The European Union views wind energy as a promising and important direction for the development of renewable energy sources. Under the European Green Deal and the REPowerEU plan, wind generation has been identified as a key instrument of decarbonisation, and for Slovakia, which is largely dependent on fossil fuel imports, the transition to wind energy is a matter of national energy security. At the same time, the development of wind energy in this country shows the lowest growth rates in Eastern Europe, which is the result of systematic disinformation campaigns and lobbying groups that actively oppose it.
An investigative report by Deník Referendum and the Ján Kuciak Investigative Centre revealed that a coordinated network of activists operates in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, spreading exaggerated or outright false information about the harmful effects of wind power plants. They established their own association and filed hundreds of identical complaints regarding environmental impact assessment procedures in order to delay project implementation by years — an open act of sabotage. Moreover, the disinformation campaign originating in Slovakia is also directed at neighbouring Czech Republic.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia are lagging behind in wind energy development relative to their actual technological potential, due to misallocation of resources and a lack of political will. The Supreme Audit Office of the Czech Republic (Nejvyšší kontrolní úřad) in June 2025 noted the ineffective use of European Modernisation Fund resources, which were prioritised for solar energy, leaving the wind generation sector without adequate funding despite the country’s strategic need for 1.5 GW of new capacity by 2030. In Slovakia, the development of renewable energy sources has faced sabotage from the authorities, the energy market, and certain activist groups that effectively act in the interests of large energy players who are invested in preserving traditional energy sources.
According to Deník Referendum and the ICJK, the main source of disinformation against wind energy has been the Slovak website Zapravdu.sk and its associated communities, run by Slovak citizen Daniel Mačovský, who presents himself as a professional yoga instructor and promoter of Slavic culture, and is also a well-known conspiracy theorist. He began actively campaigning against wind turbines in the spring of 2025.
Mačovský spreads claims that wind turbines allegedly generate infrasound that negatively affects the health of people living within several kilometres of them. On his website and through other activists, he distributes seemingly convincing but entirely unsubstantiated “impact zones” and other manipulative photo montages. All of this is aimed at instilling fear of an illusory “man-made threat” in local communities and inciting them to actively oppose the construction of wind turbines.
His campaign was not limited to publications alone — he helped launch petitions, distributed instructions on how to initiate local referendums, how to pressure municipalities, and what arguments to use in discussions with residents in order to stir them up against the installation of wind turbines.
The pseudoscientific scare tactics spread by Mačovský have been challenged by experts and scientists. Czech public health scientist and expert at the National Institute of Public Health in Prague, Zdenka Vandasová, commenting on the disinformation campaign, stated that there is no scientific evidence that infrasound from wind turbines has a harmful effect on health, noting that it is no different from other everyday and domestic sources of low-frequency noise that the human ear cannot perceive.
The obstruction of wind energy development in Slovakia is the result of a combination of internal sabotage by large energy players who purchase traditional fuels and disinformation campaigns that effectively serve Russia’s interests — Russia, which in turn sells significant volumes of natural gas to Bratislava. The tightening of administrative barriers and orchestrated campaigns against wind turbine construction artificially preserve dependence on fossil fuels, ensuring sustained demand for Russian natural gas. Such a policy not only hinders the transition to low-carbon energy, but also creates the conditions for maintaining dependence on energy supplies from the Russian Federation.
Whether opponents of wind energy like Daniel Mačovský receive direct payments for their disinformation campaigns from Russia-linked lobbying groups, or whether they act as “useful idiots,” is a secondary question. In either case, they shape the information environment and incite people to sabotage the development of renewable energy sources. Taken together, this serves the interests of the Kremlin and the Slovak elite, who are invested in preserving their corrupt revenues from contracts with Russia’s Gazprom.