What does Sme rodina propose?

Everyone should pay the same rate of income tax, whatever they earn.

Banks, energy companies and large retail chains should pay a special tax.

Reasoning: In 2023 it called for the state to raise revenue mainly by taxing monopolies, oligopolies and multinationals; its 2020 manifesto proposed special taxes on banks and energy companies.

Source: Petícia proti progresívnym sociálnym experimentom (web hnutia, 2023); Program pomoci rodinám 2020, s. 63-64.

The deficit should be reduced by cutting state spending rather than by raising taxes.

Reasoning: In 2026 it promises lower taxes and Kollár calls for very tough reforms to avoid bankruptcy, but in 2023 it opposed cuts to pensions and family benefits and preferred taxing big companies.

Source: TASR, 25. 3. 2026; web hnutia (úvodná stránka), 2026.

The standard VAT rate should be cut from 23%, even if the state collects less money.

The state should cap electricity and gas prices by law for all households, not only for those on lower incomes.

Reasoning: Its 2020 manifesto proposed a cap on energy bills only for vulnerable households, families with children and pensioners, and criticised blanket price regulation of whole market segments.

Source: Program pomoci rodinám 2020, s. 66 a 68 (Energetika).

The state should hold a majority stake in large energy companies.

Reasoning: In 2023 it answered yes to returning strategic monopolies (power, gas and water firms) to the state; its 2020 manifesto sought a bigger state stake in strategic companies.

Source: Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany; Program pomoci rodinám 2020, s. 110.

The state should cap supermarkets' profit margins on basic foods.

Reasoning: In 2023 it promised food at fair prices free of excessive retail margins through a state food chain that would compete with foreign supermarket chains.

Source: Normálne noviny (september 2023), s. 10; Priority hnutia 2023.

Only people with low pensions should receive the 13th pension.

Reasoning: In 2023 it defended keeping the 13th pension against moves to abolish it and takes credit for doubling it; it has not proposed limiting it to people with low pensions.

Source: Petícia proti progresívnym sociálnym experimentom (2023); Normálne noviny (september 2023), s. 3.

The retirement age should keep rising with life expectancy, with no fixed cap.

Reasoning: In 2023 it answered no to restoring the 64-year cap on the retirement age, the limit that held back its automatic rise in line with life expectancy.

Source: Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany.

Social and family benefits should be kept, even if taxes have to rise to pay for them.

Reasoning: In 2023 it rejected cuts to pensions and family benefits and wanted them funded by taxing monopolies and multinationals; in 2026 it says social policy is not an expense but an investment.

Source: Petícia proti progresívnym sociálnym experimentom (2023); Program hnutia – Sociálna politika (2026).

People who are able to work should lose social benefits if they turn down a job or training.

There should be a single public health insurer instead of several competing ones.

Reasoning: Its 2026 health programme assumes several insurers: it wants them to buy care actively and be penalised if they fail to secure it, without proposing to merge them into one.

Source: Program hnutia – Zdravotníctvo (web hnutia, 2026), bod 2.

Patients should be able to pay extra for healthcare above the standard level.

Reasoning: In 2023 it answered yes to letting patients pay extra for above-standard care, and its 2020 manifesto wanted to define such services with a direct contribution from the insured.

Source: Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany; Program pomoci rodinám 2020, s. 26.

Slovakia should actively recruit doctors and nurses from abroad.

Reasoning: In 2023 it answered no to actively recruiting doctors and nurses from abroad, preferring better pay and conditions for local staff; in 2026 it proposes helping doctors working abroad to return.

Source: Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany; Program hnutia – Zdravotníctvo (2026), bod 1.3.

Slovakia should resume sending state military aid to Ukraine.

Reasoning: In 2023 it answered yes to supporting Ukraine militarily, as the government it belonged to did; it has not said whether the state military aid halted by Fico's government should resume.

Source: Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany; TASR, 29. 3. 2022.

The EU should lift its sanctions on Russia.

Slovakia should be able to keep buying Russian gas and oil after 2027.

Reasoning: In 2022 its leader warned that without the gas flowing through Ukraine the economy would collapse; the movement has not taken a stance on the EU ban on Russian energy from 2027.

Source: Pravda (relácia O 5 minút 12, RTVS), 9. 5. 2022.

Ukraine should be able to join the EU once it meets all the conditions.

Reasoning: In 2023 it answered yes to Ukraine joining the EU provided it meets the conditions; its 2020 manifesto spoke of integrating Ukraine into the EU single market.

Source: Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany.

Russian assets frozen in the EU should be used to help Ukraine.

Support for refugees from Ukraine should be cut back.

The EU should be able to decide foreign policy by majority vote, without any single country having a veto.

Reasoning: Its 2020 manifesto called for the greatest possible autonomy for Slovakia and an EU that respects national sovereignty; it has not addressed majority voting in foreign policy.

Source: Program pomoci rodinám 2020, s. 114 a 116 (Medzinárodné vzťahy).

If the EU does not change fundamentally, Slovakia should hold a referendum on whether to stay in it.

Reasoning: In 2023 it answered no to Slovakia leaving the EU; its 2020 manifesto called for an audit of the pros and cons of membership, not a referendum.

Source: Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany; Program pomoci rodinám 2020, s. 114.

The EU should be able to freeze EU funds for countries that do not respect the rule of law.

Slovakia should leave NATO and become a militarily neutral country.

Reasoning: In 2023 it answered no to Slovakia leaving NATO, and its 2020 manifesto called NATO membership the best way to secure peace in Europe and Slovakia's security.

Source: Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany; Program pomoci rodinám 2020, s. 116.

Slovakia should increase defence spending to meet NATO's new target.

Reasoning: Its 2020 manifesto called for meeting the NATO pledge to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence and for modernising the army; it has not addressed the alliance's new target.

Source: Program pomoci rodinám 2020, s. 110 a 116.

Slovakia should withdraw from its defence cooperation agreement with the United States.

Slovakia should re-establish the Office of the Special Prosecutor to fight corruption.

Non-governmental organisations funded from abroad should be subject to stricter state oversight.

The Prosecutor General should keep the power to annul final decisions by the police and prosecutors (the so-called Section 363).

Reasoning: In 2022 its leader insisted that Section 363, which lets the prosecutor general annul unlawful final decisions, stay unchanged, though he accepted that it could be reviewed.

Source: SITA, 1. 1. 2022 (rozhovor s predsedom hnutia).

The management of the public broadcaster STVR should be chosen by an independent body, not by the government or the governing majority in parliament.

Reasoning: Its 2020 manifesto wanted an independent and transparent way of choosing the public broadcaster's director, and funding that would make it independent of politicians and parliament.

Source: Program pomoci rodinám 2020, s. 124 (Kultúra – Verejnoprávne médiá).

A referendum should be valid even if fewer than half of eligible voters take part.

Reasoning: In 2023 it answered no to lowering the quorum needed for a referendum to be valid, although its 2020 manifesto proposed scrapping the 50% turnout requirement.

Source: Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany; Program pomoci rodinám 2020, s. 126.

Same-sex couples should be able to register their partnership legally.

Reasoning: In 2023 it answered no to same-sex couples registering their union; its 2020 manifesto defines the family as a man, a woman and children.

Source: Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany; Program pomoci rodinám 2020, s. 9.

Abortion should be more restricted than it is now.

Reasoning: In 2023 it answered no to banning abortion except in exceptional cases, and it has not proposed restricting it further than now.

Source: Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany.

Ethical issues such as marriage or adoption should be decided only by each country, not by the EU.

Reasoning: Its 2020 manifesto sees the EU as a project that must respect national sovereignty, and in 2023 it answered no to ratifying the Istanbul Convention.

Source: Program pomoci rodinám 2020, s. 116; Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany.

Possessing a small amount of cannabis for personal use should remain a criminal offence.

Reasoning: In 2023 it answered no to legalising cannabis cultivation for personal use, but it has not said whether possessing small amounts should remain a criminal offence.

Source: Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany.

In municipalities with a large Hungarian population, Hungarian should be an official language alongside Slovak.

The 2025 law that makes it a crime to question the Beneš decrees should be repealed.

People who acquire another country's citizenship should be able to keep their Slovak citizenship.

Reasoning: In 2023 it answered no to letting people who take another citizenship keep their Slovak one, though it allowed for exceptions, for example for athletes.

Source: Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany.

The state should invest more in integrating marginalised Roma communities, for example in pre-school education and housing.

Reasoning: Its 2020 manifesto wanted to support Roma culture to achieve social inclusion and to expand health capacity for marginalised groups, without a specific plan for education or housing.

Source: Program pomoci rodinám 2020, s. 27 a 125.

Slovakia should stick to the EU goal of reaching climate neutrality by 2050.

Reasoning: Its 2020 manifesto accepted the EU goal of a zero carbon footprint by 2050, relying on nuclear power, and in 2023 it answered that Slovakia should do more against climate change.

Source: Program pomoci rodinám 2020, s. 66 (Energetika); Volebná kalkulačka KohoVolit 2023, odpoveď strany.

Sales of new petrol and diesel cars should be banned from 2035.

Reasoning: In 2023 its leader demanded that the government follow parliament's instruction to oppose the EU ban on combustion engines, and criticised the environment ministry for failing to do so.

Source: TASR, 23. 4. 2023 (relácia V politike, TA3).

Slovakia should make it easier for foreign workers to come and work in sectors with labour shortages.