On April 29, 2026, in Trnava, the president of IVO Grigorij Mesežnikov and Miroslav Wlahovský, minister of foreign affairs in the government of Ľudovít Ódor, previously ambassador to Great Britain and Denmark, currently a foreign policy analyst, an expert of GLOBSEC, discussed the future fate of democracy in Slovakia, the impact of the results of the parliamentary elections in Hungary on developments in the Slovak Republic, the reasons for the victory of Péter Magyar's party and the defeat of Viktor Orbán's party, and other related topics. The discussion, organized by the Streda (Wednesday) civic association as part of the debate cycle On Substance was moderated by Peter Bestvina. 

The participants of the debate compared the pre-election situation in Hungary and the current situation in Slovakia on three levels: 1) the manner and results of the governance of populist forces in power for a longer period, 2) the situation in the environment of opposition (democratic) forces,  3) the influence of foreign authoritarian states, primarily Russia, on the foreign policy of the state and domestic political development. 

The speakers recalled the experience of democratic forces in Slovakia with quite successful overcoming their own fragmentation in critical moments of confrontation with the ruling authoritarian populists. It is these experiences – both at the level of party politics and at the level of mobilization strategies – that could bring tangible success to Slovak democrats in the parliamentary elections in October 2027.