Politicians from far-right parties in the National Council, Slovakia's legislative body, frequently espouse Islamophobic and antisemitic rhetoric and conspiracy theories.
Some of them have faced censure as a consequence of their violation of laws against the propagation of extremist materials and against affiliation with groups dedicated to the suppression of fundamental rights and freedoms.
The populations of these regions were religiously diverse, including Muslims, Christians of various denominations, and Jews; non-Muslims were required to pay a special tax to the Ottoman government.
[4] During the 18th century, Maria Theresa actively tried to suppress the Jewish and Protestant communities living in the Austrian Empire, at certain points going as far as ordering the expulsions of Jews en masse.
[5][6] Her son and successor, Emperor Joseph II of Austria, reversed these policies and passed the Patent of Toleration in 1781 followed by the Edict of Tolerance in 1782, with the former granting religious freedom to non-Catholic Christians,[7] and the latter extending religious freedom to Jews,[8] although it also limited the ability of Jews to publish literature in traditional Jewish languages such as Yiddish and Hebrew.
[2] In 2017, politicians in government, including representatives of Direction – Social Democracy, the largest political party in the government and part of the ruling coalition, stated that their support for raising the number of religious members required for group registration was explicitly due to a concern that Islamic groups would otherwise be able to register in the country.
In January 2017, then-Prime Minister Robert Fico stated that a “unified Muslim community” within the country's territory would be a “constant source of security risk,” and that this justified a refusal to accept migrants under the European Commission's refugee resettlement program.
Its representatives have engaged in Islamophobic and antisemitic rhetoric in parliamentary debates, among other things claiming that Islam condones pedophilia and necrophilia, and that "Zionist" politicians were involved in a conspiracy to bring Muslims into Slovakia.
Individual representatives of L'SNS have been charged by the Slovak Police Force for propagating extremist rhetoric and the defamation of nations and beliefs.
In 2017, a Supreme Court received a proposal made by the prosecutor general to dissolve L'SNS for being a threat to the country's democratic system, as well as for violation of the constitution and other laws.
Later that year, however, Mizik's attorney and six other people were arrested for the possession of Nazi paraphernalia, and in October a L'SNS official was convicted for shouting a greeting associated with a Slovak fascist paramilitary at a Supreme Court hearing in 2018.
It states the exercise of religious rights may be restricted only by measures “necessary in a democratic society for the protection of public order, health, and morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.”[2] The law does not allow burial earlier than 48 hours following death, even for religious groups whose traditions mandate an earlier burial.
[2] The law criminalizes issuance, possession, and dissemination of extremist materials, including those defending, supporting, or instigating hatred, violence, or unlawful discrimination against a group of persons on the basis of their religion.
[2] The law requires religious groups to register with the Department of Church Affairs in the Ministry of Culture in order to employ spiritual leaders to perform officially recognized functions.
Clergy from unregistered religious groups do not officially have the right to perform weddings or to minister to their members in prisons or government hospitals.
[2] In order to register with the government, a religious group must have at least 50,000 adult members in the country, either citizens or permanent residents, and they must submit an “honest declaration” attesting to their membership, knowledge of the articles of faith and basic tenets of the religion, personal identity numbers and home addresses, and support for the group's registration to the Ministry of Culture.
The unanimous approval of the existing parties to the agreement is required for other religious groups to obtain similar benefits.
Dissenting members stymied in attempts to reform official theological positions might normally split off to form their own church, but the difficulty in registering a new religion prevents such an action.
[14] All public elementary school students must take a religion or an ethics class, depending on personal or parental preferences.
[14] Some Christian groups and other organizations characterized in the press as far-right have issued statements praising the World War II-era fascist government responsible for the deportation of thousands of Jews to Nazi death camps, and they continued to organize gatherings where participants displayed symbols of the World War II-era fascist First Slovak Republic.