The European Union is considering financial sanctions against Slovakia if its populist government adopts judicial reforms seen as a threat to the rule of law, a European commissioner warned on Monday, quoted by AFP.

“European law stipulates that a state that does not guarantee protection against corruption cannot receive funding,” Vira Jourova, the commissioner responsible for values ​​and transparency, told AFP.

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated across Slovakia on Thursday against a proposed revision of the criminal code that would, among other things, reduce penalties for corruption.

The coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Fitzgerald also wants to end police protection for whistleblowers.

The reforms, which have drawn criticism from the European Union and the national opposition, also include abolishing the prosecutor’s office, which specializes in high-level corruption and organized crime cases.

According to the Commissioner for Values ​​and Transparency, the elimination of the specialized prosecutor’s office may lead to “hiding certain cases under the rug.”

Speaking in Prague, Jourova called on Fico’s government to hold “broad consultations” before adopting the reforms.

“Prosecutors must be independent from politics because they may have to deal with cases related to important politicians,” Jourova said, adding that the prosecution system “must be completely apolitical.”

Opposition leader Michal Simecka said the reforms are aimed at protecting Fico from prosecution.

Fico, a lawyer who heads a tripartite government that includes a far-right nationalist party, said in December that the special prosecutor’s office “violates human rights and has nothing to do with the Slovak judicial system.”

He also told parliament last week that his government would “do everything” to ensure the controversial reforms are approved.

Fico’s party, Smer-SD, won the general election in September, giving him a fourth term as prime minister.

His previous term ended early in 2018 amid nationwide protests following the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova.

Transparency and openness

On Wednesday, the European Parliament condemned the bill and expressed “deep concern at the unjustified acceleration of the legislative process” to pass it, saying that this revision of the criminal code “threatens the integrity of judicial processes and undermines the European Union’s fight against fraud”.

In a letter dated December 5, the European Commission asked the Slovak government to postpone the project.

Slovakia could follow in the footsteps of its neighbors Hungary and Poland, which lost EU funding due to problems with the rule of law.