Disinformation

Holy war against students and the "progressive" conspiracy. Disinformation agents in Slovakia exploit Epstein documents

Adapt Institute provides an overview of disinformation trends that have been on the rise in the last two weeks:

• Hateful rhetoric continued against the student who became popular for his chalk messages to the PM. The disinformation scene and some politicians kept attacking his sexual orientation and accusing him of drug addiction. Conspiracy theories also emerged that his views were not authentic and that he was being controlled by liberal political forces.
• A similar spirit of creating internal enemies continued in the case of students who left a discussion with PM Robert Fico in Poprad in protest, jingling their keys. The presence of Ukrainian flag did not sit well with the actors being monitored, and narratives about the progressive manipulation of youth and the abuse of the legacy of November 17 were repeated. Somewhat less mentioned in these circles was the fact that SMER-SSD also invited fake students from its youth party structures to the discussion.
• The published communications of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein also had an impact on Slovakia. The name of former Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák (SMER-SSD) also appeared in the documents. Disinformers used the situation to revive conspiracy rhetoric about the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak. In particular, they spread narratives about a planned coup d'état.
• The far-right is once again predicting the collapse of Western civilization and warning against the harmful agenda of the progressive-green majority in the European Parliament. While undermining confidence in the EU, other actors are celebrating Russia and amplifying disinformation narratives about the proposed peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

Students as enemies of the government?

We already reported on the PM's unsuccessful visit to Poprad, where he faced student discontent, in our last report. At the beginning of November, critical messages drawn in chalk on the sidewalk awaited him at the gates of the high school. The student who drew the (also vulgar) messages was met with a wave of criticism and hatred from the disinformation ecosystem. Muro, as the student is nicknamed, also spoke at the protests on November 17, 2025. The subsequent spread of toxicity directed at him was mainly driven by people linked to the far-right Republika and SMER-SSD parties.

To summarize briefly, Lívia Pavlíková described the student in her video as a "half-wit" who had defiled the legacy of November 1989. As might be expected from a young influencer linked to the far-right structures of the Republika party, she also attacked the protests' support for Ukraine and protection of sexual minorities. In another video, she talked about the student's sexual orientation. She named him "pupuš" (pejorative expression for a homosexual man in Slovak language) and hypocritically continued to preach about decency and upbringing.

Remaining in the waters of the far-right spectrum, Milan Mazurek presents the student from Poprad as a vulgar primitive and drug user whom progressive politicians and the media want to make a hero. He frightens the audience with the claim that Slovak "education has turned into a rainbow breeding ground for Progressive Slovakia voters."

MEP Ľuboš Blaha mockingly praised the student as the new leader of the Slovak opposition and the bearer of "vulgar primitive hatred." As if that weren't enough, the conspiratorial face of the SMER-SSD party added a remark about Šimečka and Soros directing the protests. Blaha was similarly seconded by his party colleague Tibor Gašpar. He described the student as an ill-mannered adolescent and a victim of the environment in which he lives. This was followed by repeated comparisons to the assassin Cintula (the attacker of Prime Minister Fico), and he did not refrain from attacking the director of the Poprad school, who allegedly contributed to the education of "the future Cintula, or people spreading hatred and intolerant of other opinions".

There were also manipulative speculations that the student had been directly incited to his actions by a member of the Progressive Slovakia (PS) party. Members of the SMER-SSD party even organized a press conference on this topic, at which they tried to create a narrative about a so-called controlled chalk revolution and holy war against Fico. The student's actions in Poprad sparked a wave of solidarity in Slovakia, with citizens across the country beginning to draw chalk messages to Robert Fico and his fifth government on sidewalks.

Lívia Pavlíková also contributed to the spread of similar conspiracy-laden speculation, attempting to create the impression of a progressive conspiracy in her video. She questioned the authenticity of the student's opinions and the presence of the PS deputy. Darina Luščíková was indeed present at the scene, but according to a statement by the PS MP, she was only waiting in front of the school for the PM's lecture. She wanted to inform her electorate about it.

Ľuboš Blaha also tried to exploit the situation. In his post, he talks about the involvement of the PS as a matter of record and proven fact. He claims that it has once again been proven that "progressives and the entire opposition are behind the division of Slovak society." Without any evidence and based solely on speculation, he claims that progressives are organizing and supporting "vandalism and vulgar hatred." The MEP even goes so far as to compare PS to the SA units before Hitler's rise to power.

The intention of the aforementioned actors is fairly clear. The effort to score political points by polarizing society and fuelling hatred or conspiracy theories in Slovakia is nothing new. The same is true of creating enemies through cultural differences or established stereotypes. However, the fact that students have recently been increasingly targeted by such rhetoric is a worrying trend, which is also highlighted in the next section of the report.

Students versus PM

The failed discussion between the PM and students in Poprad had its own aftermath. Robert Fico visited the town in eastern Slovakia again and organized a new event on November 14. This time, the lecture wasn't held at the school, but at the local district office. The PM was accompanied by his fellow party members - the head of the PM's advisors, Erik Kaliňák, the head of the Government Office of the Slovak Republic, Juraj Gedra, and MP Richard Glück.

The students ended up leaving the meeting with the PM early. Dressed in black and jingling their keys, they walked out of the lecture after half an hour. During the meeting, Robert Fico was supposed to reprimand the students for their attire. When they got up and left with a Ukrainian flag (used as a symbol of disagreement with the PM's foreign policy), Fico said, "If you are such heroes, go fight in Ukraine." The incident was again picked up by the disinformation scene, along with the PM.

SMER-SSD published the entire recording of the discussion, arguing that the party wants people to see "how the media distorts reality and, unfortunately, some students lie about what was said in the discussion." The fact remains, however, that in the first few minutes, Fico managed to boast about his visits to Russia and China, attacked the Slovak media, and once again positioned himself in opposition to Brussels. The fact that the students left the discussion can only be seen as an expression of their disagreement, as they avoided direct confrontation with the PM.

However, for figures on the Slovak disinformation scene, such as Lívia Pavlíková, the students became "extras for Progressive Slovakia and pro-system sheep" who are not allowed to have their own opinions and are controlled by politicians. Miroslav Heredoš reacted similarly to the situation, disapproving of the students' display of support for Ukraine with their flag. He spoke of "manipulated youth who act on someone else's orders and defend a foreign country."

For Igor Melicher (SMER-SSD), who as state secretary shone in the media last week by saying that he ideally envisions Ukraine under Russian rule, students are "victims of the system" who "were probably motivated to act by someone from the progressive camp." According to Melicher, the lecture should have been held "in a good and constructive atmosphere" because "the overwhelming majority of students" should have remained in the hall.

One reason for this may be that part of the audience consisted of fake students who, in their everyday lives, are active in the youth structures of the PM's party (Young Social Democrats). They even used the space to ask uncritical questions. This has been thoroughly reported on Facebook by civic activist Jakub Goda, for example.

It is precisely these students that several channels have tried to present to the public as examples of proper education and respect for opinions in society. As an illustration, we present a video published by the official SMER-SSD page, which went viral. It shows two students praising Robert Fico for a civil discussion and calling for "respect for other opinions." However, one of them is a member of the Young Social Democrats and an assistant to Ľubomír Vážny (SMER-SSD). SMER-SSD MP Zuzana Matejičková also helped by sharing a video of a student "who is not of interest to the media". In fact, however, this is Erik Kriváň, who also comes from the Young Social Democrats.

To illustrate Slovak disinformation folklore, there were also narratives questioning the legacy of November 17, 1989. To sum up, Ľuboš Blaha addressed Slovaks on the occasion of the Velvet Revolution directly from Russia. In his own words, he does not celebrate that day because he considers November 1989 "a liberal Maidan that took away our national sovereignty and social security." In the spirit of his Russophile reality, he did not forget to thank the Russians for liberating Slovakia after World War II and continued with an indirect call for the return of a communist regime under Moscow's control. In another video, he promoted BRICS as "the future of the global economy and geopolitics". One could not find a more vocal agent of Russian interests in Slovakia.

Returning to November 17, Miroslav Heredoš also felt the need to express his opinion. He considers the regime change of 1989 to be a fraud in which citizens were "handed over to the economic slavery of Western capitalist companies". Anna Belousovová also considered the possibility of some kind of behind-the-scenes control of the Velvet Revolution. In combination with the chalk revolution, former advisor to the PM Eduard Chmelár sees the current events of November 17 as an attempt to "provoke civil unrest."

The Epstein saga in Slovakia

In mid-November, 20,000 pages of documents relating to the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were published. Surprisingly, the name of former Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák was also found in them. He currently serves as an advisor to PM Robert Fico's team. He was supposed to have corresponded with Epstein directly via his ministerial email.

Epstein called Lajčák "Miro" (a nickname of the name Miroslav used rather by close relatives and fellows) and, according to their correspondence, considered him a friend. They communicated most frequently in 2018, when Epstein had already been convicted of soliciting prostitution. Among other things, they exchanged information about Slovak politics and Lajčák's possible career advancement (e.g., in connection with the posts of Secretary-General of the UN or NATO).

Some of the emails mentioning the fall of Fico's government in 2018 after the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak have already been picked up by the disinformation scene. This time, however, it concerns communication between Epstein and Steve Bannon, who was an advisor and campaign manager for US President Trump until 2017. Slovak disinformers have found "evidence" in these emails of an American-led coup in Slovakia. However, the dates do not match and there is no evidence whatsoever.

We therefore looked into this topic using the Gerulata Juno analytical tool. We used it to analyze the most popular posts on Slovak Facebook that contained the keywords "Epstein," "Jeffrey," or "Kuciak." We excluded posts that did not contain problematic narratives from the list. We then evaluated the posts based on the total number of interactions (the sum of all reactions, comments, and shares). The number of interactions corresponds to the date of data collection, and in the meantime, the posts could have generated even higher numbers.

The post with the highest number of interactions belongs to Ľuboš Blaha, who devoted the most attention to the Epstein documents among the figures in the Slovak disinformation ecosystem. Paradoxically, the MEP for SMER-SSD did so even though Miroslav Lajčák was also his party colleague. Perhaps because he still serves as an advisor to the prime PM (on Western Balkan issues), Blaha hardly mentions him at all, only marginally. Blaha focuses primarily on the communication between Epstein and Bannon. He presents it to his audience as an "incredible revelation" and clear proof that "the Americans planned the fall of Robert Fico's government in 2018." He also adds speculation about whether "they also had a hand in the murder of Jan Kuciak, which triggered the Maidan process." For now, we can comfortably ignore the fact that he uses Russian vocabulary for the "pejorative" term for controlled coups. It is enough to focus on the content of his message and compare it with reality. The emails between Epstein and Bannon do indeed mention that the government in Slovakia is to fall in 2018. However, this is stated in a message dated March 15, 2018. Fico offered his resignation the day before, on March 14, 2018. In addition, Blaha is also misleading in his contextualization of the message, saying that Epstein was supposed to have sent these messages to one of the most influential American politicians. Bannon was not a politician, and Epstein sent the email (not the other way around). Blaha is essentially lying openly to his audience and presenting a distorted reality about an American conspiracy against Slovak interests.

The same was true of the second post, which was also published by Ľuboš Blaha. He continues to spread the same narratives and even confirms that "the Americans planned the Maidan in Slovakia." They allegedly admitted this in Epstein's communications (they did not). He also raises the question again of whether "they also murdered Ján Kuciak." Needless to say, such dancing on the graves of two young people for the sake of scoring political points is inappropriate on the part of a MEP (or anyone else). In addition, Blaha also attacked former President Zuzana Čaputová. He trotted out misinformation that the communication between Epstein and an unknown recipient confirms that Čaputová is "Soros's person". However, Epstein was only commenting on developments in the 2019 Slovak presidential election. In his view, Lajčák (who, according to Epstein, had the potential to defeat Čaputová) could easily have become president. However, Epstein was merely expressing his surprise at Čaputová's victory to the unknown recipient, considering her to be a leftist from the non-governmental sector with zero experience. He labelled her as "Soros' candidate". Although he was probably referring to her professional background and values, these words were enough for Blaha to create a conspiracy narrative about interference in the Slovak elections.

The third post on the topic was published by the disinformation portal Bádateľ. Although it devoted only two lines to the topic, it used them effectively to spread the underlying narrative about a planned coup and attacks on selected politicians. In addition to the aforementioned President Čaputová, it also called for the arrest of Juraj Šeliga (a former activist involved in the 2018 protests and a current opposition politician), Daniel Lipšic (a former politician and special prosecutor), and Andrej Kiska (also a former president). The post refers to these politicians as “Maidanists”. It can be said that the Bádateľ page essentially took over the (mis)interpretation put forward by Blaha. It also falsely claims that the US Congress allegedly "published evidence that the US planned the fall of Fico's government in 2018 and possibly even Kuciak's murder." As we wrote above, nothing of the sort can be found in the published documents.

Another post was published by Miro Heredoš. The activist and candidate for the far-right Republika used the scandal to criticize Miroslav Lajčák. He condemned the former minister's communication with Epstein as unacceptable and as an "example of [moral] depraveness". That would be fine, of course, but Heredoš went on to condemn the fact that information about the fall of the Slovak government was supposed to have reached "higher circles in the US" in this way. To reiterate, the resignation of Fico's government had already been publicly announced at the time of the communication. And again, the communication took place between Epstein and Bannon, not Lajčák. Heredoš continues with further manipulations, using the image of Lajčák to discredit other former professional diplomats who had good relations with the US and are now Heredoš's political rivals (e.g., Ivan Korčok and Peter Kmec). Labels such as "spineless servants of the West" or "transatlantic lackeys of American political elites" can therefore be understood as a boundless effort to score political points through completely illogical connections. The fact that Lajčák communicated with Epstein does not mean that other diplomats have unhealthy relations with Washington on behalf of Slovakia. Nevertheless, Heredoš is trying to create this impression in a simplistic way.

The last post in the series was published by the profile Eluen Spokojná. It is essentially a private profile, but it publicly publishes problematic content with highly manipulative or disinformative undertones. It is highly suspected of being an inauthentic troll account. The post contains a video with Robert Merva, director of the TORDEN publishing house, which offers space for the printing and publication of various dubious and even conspiratorial literature. In the video, Merva mentions several current topics and applies the perspective of a conspiracy theorist to all of them. In the context of Epstein's communication, he talks about the presence of secret services of other powers that are trying to destabilize the political scene in Slovakia. Epstein allegedly knew about the planned coup even before the resignation of Fico's government. He describes the protests that took place after the journalist's murder as "riots" aimed at "overthrowing Fico's government." All of this is supposedly part of a larger plan by Western powers. Merva continues with a call for Slovaks to be careful—otherwise, he says, "we will end up like the Ukrainians" and "they will stage a Maidan here."

EU peace diplomacy fails while Russia thrives?

The EU and its policies have once again become the target of lies and manipulation by disinformation actors. While Milan Mazurek (Republika) warned against the "progressive degeneration" of the Union, Ľuboš Blaha (SMER-SSD) praised the invincible Russia, which he claimed was unaffected by EU sanctions.

Far-right MEPs Milan Mazurek and Milan Uhrík continue their anti-European disinformation campaign. They are primarily exploiting the topic of the Green Deal, which they have long been disparaging and misrepresenting. They simplify its content and describe it as a harmful agenda of the progressive-green majority in the European Parliament (EP). In a joint video, they reported that the progressives had been dealt a blow: "...today we outvoted them again and significantly relieved many businesses and farmers from having to submit nonsensical forms on sustainability, the value chain, gender equality, and similar Brussels fairy tales."

This is how Uhrík and Mazurek presented the fact that on November 13, centre-right, right-wing, and far-right groups in the EP joined forces to approve the first comprehensive package of measures to simplify EU legislation (the so-called omnibus). This is part of these groups' efforts to deregulate in order to free businesses and companies from the obligation to report on their environmental activities. In addition to the fact that such a change could have negative impacts on green transformation efforts, experts also warn against cooperation between far-right factions and the EPP, right-wing conservatives, and reformists.

Mazurek also continued with his xenophobic agenda and scare tactics. To this end, he presented a statement by a 100-year-old British World War II veteran who, "looking at the state of his country, says that the deaths of hundreds of his comrades were not worth it." According to him, this statement was meant to illustrate the "absolute collapse of Western civilization." Although he included an excerpt from a television broadcast in which the veteran made this statement in his video, he did not provide any further context and arbitrarily edited the veteran's opinion to suit his own agenda: "They did not fight Nazism to become a minority in their own country, nor so that someone could change the gender of small children, or so that women would be afraid to go out on the streets of their cities in the evening, and certainly not so that the police could arrest people en masse for criticism on the internet!" Mazurek deliberately inserted footage of Muslim prayers, police interventions, and simply people of different races walking in the streets into the video.

Attention was also devoted to the new draft peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, which, according to Robert Fico, is a preliminary bill for the EU for its "inability to engage in peaceful diplomacy, which the Slovaks have tirelessly sought". During the press conference, the prime minister repeated the conspiracy narrative that three months after the start of the war, the then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson thwarted the first peace initiative. We addressed this narrative in one of our earlier reports. Fico argued that the current draft agreement presents much worse conditions for Ukraine than the April 2022 draft, which is said to be the result of the policy of "war hawks" in the EU. They were said to have unnecessarily supported the war by sending weapons and prohibiting a ceasefire. He also returned to the disinformation about Russia's alleged deception in NATO's expansion, which he said was the reason for the start of the war.

Defense Minister Robert Kaliňák presented similar rhetoric in relation to the peace proposal. He spoke of the warmongering of analysts who had mistakenly predicted Russia's quick defeat and downplayed its superiority over Ukraine. On the other hand, the only person who allegedly cannot be refuted on any claim about the war is Robert Fico. Given the long series of reports in which we have pointed out the lies and manipulations coming from Prime Minister Fico, we might doubt this statement. In addition, Kaliňák resorted to a disinformation narrative that Ukraine had provoked the conflict with Russia itself by failing to respect the democratically elected president in 2014. The minister did not mention the real reasons for the Maidan or how the then-president, Viktor Yanukovych, asked Russia for armed intervention against his own protesting population.

The glorification of Russia was also evident in the statements of MEP Ľuboš Blaha, who already has experience in creating celebratory videos from Russian cities. In a recent post from his visit to Sochi, he sought to create the impression that European sanctions against Russia are not hurting Russia at all. To this end, he used meaningless shots of people in the streets, shopkeepers, and tourists, which he enriched with his own enthusiastic shouts and singing. Such glorification of life in the metropolis of a country that is waging unprovoked aggression against a neighboring state, committing war crimes on a daily basis, and accelerating a disinformation campaign is extremely inappropriate on the part of an MEP.

Project is organized by Adapt Institute and supported by the Prague office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. It continuously monitors the activities of both Slovak and foreign disinformation actors, but focuses mainly on the former. The project activities are built upon daily monitoring of emerging disinformation, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories in the online information space. This approach allows the analysts to identify disinformation posts and narratives that resonated with the public the most, as well as to find out where they originated, and how they spread and evolved on social media. The report takes the form of a bi-weekly summary of arising trends in the spread of malicious information content online. Based on that, Adapt Institute can inform the public about emerging and current trends in the field of disinformation, manipulation, and propaganda.