Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico stated that the results of the referendum on the country’s accession to the European Union, held in May 2003, were falsified. According to him, without adjustments the vote would not have been successful.
The statement was made at the opening of the “School of Social Democracy” organized by the Smer-SD party. A video recording of the speech was published on the party’s social media page.
“When Slovakia joined the EU in 2004, there was huge enthusiasm here. We held a referendum which, if it had not been falsified, would not have been successful. This needs to be said. On the one hand there was enormous enthusiasm, but at the same time [the margin of] this referendum… was so narrow that, in my opinion, some corrections were made so that they would be as they needed to be in order for Slovakia’s accession to this organization to be approved,” Fico said.
He recalled that accession was supported by both the ruling parties and the opposition (including his own Smer party and Vladimír Mečiar). “If the then opposition… had not said ‘let’s join the European Union,’ I guarantee that this referendum would not have been successful,” the prime minister added. At the same time, Fico emphasized: “I have always believed that the EU is a good project.”
The head of government provided no concrete evidence of the alleged falsification.
The referendum took place on 16–17 May 2003. Turnout was 52.15%, against the minimum required threshold of 50%. Approximately 92.5–93.7% of participants (about 2 million people) voted “yes” to accession, and about 6% voted “against.” This was the only referendum in Slovakia’s history that was recognized as valid due to turnout. The country joined the EU on 1 May 2004.
It was precisely the turnout figure that was “close,” not the ratio of “yes” to “no” votes.
The statement drew criticism. MP Beáta Jurík (Progressive Slovakia) said the prime minister was casting doubt on the democratic will of the citizens and on Slovakia’s very membership in the EU. SaS leader Branislav Gröhling called Fico’s words an attempt to lure voters from more radical parties and a dangerous political game.
At the time of the referendum, Smer was in opposition but supported European integration.
