by Andrej Matišák

Welcome to Slovakia! Welcome to the land of European records.

No, I am not talking about an exceptional number of castles, exclusive spas or beautiful mountains. I mean the political records of Slovakia. And well, unfortunately, we are bottom of the class.

Slovaks voted for the first time in the European Parliament elections in 2004. Since then, my country has always had the lowest turnout. Always.

In 2014, it was only 13.05%. At the time, I was so convinced that the turnout would be below 15% that I almost considered taking out a bank loan and forming a party. Even in retrospect, I think that I had a chance of becoming an MEP.

However, on a more serious note: how do Slovaks perceive the European Union nowadays? As a piggy bank from which they can withdraw money? Certainly, but the problem is that Slovakia cannot even use EU funds effectively. We are among the worst in this area too.

The narrative that Brussels dictates everything is widespread. No doubt, it can be found everywhere. However, Slovak politicians have got it off to perfection. If anything good happens they take the credit. If anything bad happens it's "Brussels' fails again", and very few politicians resist this narrative.

However, the media can be also considered a problem. Their coverage of EU topics is often completely shallow. Journalists avoid EU affairs because they say they are boring, with the result that when they do cover them they focus primarily on problematic issues, whether real or invented.

Let me say a few words about the business sector. Entrepreneurs rarely talk publicly about the advantages of the EU. They also prefer to complain about orders and regulations from Brussels.

All these factors taken together have meant that, according to surveys, Slovaks are increasingly eurosceptic. If we add all the disinformation, including from Russia, which the current ruling politicians like to use for their purposes, we end up with an explosive cocktail of disinterest and anger.

No, Slovakxit is not on the agenda yet. But we may start to hear more about it when Slovakia eventually becomes a country that is no longer entitled to EU funds.

If we want to avoid a dark scenario, political leaders in Slovakia must finally embrace the EU as a space that is essential for the functioning of the country and behave accordingly. Unfortunately, it is already clear that a considerable part of the current Slovak political representation would rather start a fight with the EU to protect their interests no matter what.

This means that all voters who care about the EU must talk about its importance to their relatives, friends and even strangers. This may be a lot to ask and what it will lead to is unclear. However, every alternative is worse.