Legislators from the Slovak ruling Smer party led by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico face a wave of criticism for meeting with far-right online influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate.

The Tate brothers face several criminal investigations in the United Kingdom and Romania, including investigations into rape and human trafficking. Both brothers deny wrongdoing.

Smer politicians have become increasingly radical amid the party’s faltering popularity, which has sunk below 20%.

News of the meeting broke after MEP Erik Kaliňák and MP Richard Glück, both young members of Smer, shared a photo from the meeting with the Tate brothers on their social media profiles.

“What Mr. Kaliňák and Mr. Glück did is a clear signal to young voters, particularly men [who] often roam on social networks which promote to them very negative and toxic content,” editor of the leading Slovak daily SME, Soňa Jonášová, said of the meeting.

Glück Jonášová made the comments during an SME-organised discussion which also included social media expert Jakub Goda, who highlighted that “young people, particularly those who spend time on TikTok know the Tate brothers very well.”

Andrew Tate has over 10mn followers on X (formerly Twitter), where he was previously blocked before Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform. Andrew Tate also has a record of producing content involving violence against women and making misogynistic statements such as that “women should be responsible for rape”.

Other parties in Fico’s left-right ruling coalition, which also includes conservative centre-left Hlas and ultranationalist SNS, have a record of meeting controversial online figures.

As bne IntelliNews reported, last year, Minister of Interior Matúš Šutaj Eštok of the Hlas party shocked the liberal media for taking part in an online discussion with Slovak right-wing extremist and online influencer Daniel Bombic.

In a closely followed development, Bombic was extradited from the United Kingdom to Slovakia in January after facing three warrants, and in February, Bombic was ordered to wear a monitoring bracelet during his prosecution.

Bombic was released from custody in an April 19 Special Criminal Court (STS) ruling in the town of Banská Bystrica, as bne IntelliNews also covered.

Bombic’s lawyer is David Lindtner, who is a former aide to Minister of Justice Boris Susko from the Smer party. Lindtner is also an aide to Fico after the latter returned to the helm of the government in the autumn of 2023.