Friends of Slovakia hosted an invitation-only discussion with Doc. Michal Vašečka, PhD. and Rasťo Kužel, independent analysts from Slovakia, on the snap parliamentary elections scheduled in Slovakia on September 30, 2023. They discussed the latest developments in domestic politics, possible scenarios for a new coalition government, impact on Transatlantic relations, and how foreign interference plays out in the elections.
Doc. PhDr. Michal Vašečka, PhD. is a sociologist by background and public intellectual by choice. He has been a program director of the Bratislava Policy Institute since 2017. As an Associate Professor, he has worked at the Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts since 2015. Michal studied at Comenius University in Bratislava, Masaryk University in Brno, and New School University in New York. He focuses his interests on issues of ethnicity, race, migration studies, populism, extremism, antisemitism, and social movements.
Rasťo Kužel is a media and election expert with over 24 years of international experience. Since 1998, he has been running MEMO 98, a media-monitoring organization with extensive experience in delivering analyses on behalf of international institutions as well as technical assistance to different electoral stakeholders. Rasťo has worked as a media and election analyst, consultant, and trainer, participating in a number of election observation missions and projects.