Progressive Slovakia

Progressive Slovakia (Progresívne Slovensko, PS) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Slovakia established in 2017. The party is led by Michal Šimečka, a former Vice President of the European Parliament. It is a member of the Renew Europe group and is a full member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party. PS has three MEPs: Michal Šimečka (former journalist and researcher), Martin Hojsík, and Michal Wiezik (both environmental activists); the latter left the EPP and Democrats to join PS.

Zuzana Čaputová, the incumbent president of Slovakia who is also the co-founder and former deputy leader of PS who won the 2019 Slovak presidential election, was nominated by the party for the election, focusing her campaign on themes of anti-corruption, environmentalism, and pro-Europeanism. In the National Council, it was first represented by deputy Tomáš Valášek elected for For the People, which he left in 2021. In local politics, PS has a dominant position in Bratislava, cooperating with Team Bratislava and Freedom and Solidarity.

History
The party was registered as Progressive Slovakia (PS) with the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic on 27 November 2017, after the submission of 13,500 signatures. The party's founding congress was held on 20 January 2018, which resulted in Ivan Štefunko being elected as the party's chairman. Štefunko views the left–right political spectrum as obsolete, instead aiming for the party to be a centrist and liberal political movement, claiming that "Slovakia is full of people who want a modern, open and European country". Štefunko stepped down as the party's leader in 2019 following criticism of his past involvement in business and politics, although the official reasoning for his resignation was due to health issues. Štefunko was replaced by former deputy leader Michal Truban. Truban is an IT professional, an entrepreneur, and an anti-corruption activist who also favors digitalization of governance and bureaucracy.

PS first gained attention in 2018 when Matúš Vallo, its favored candidate, won the 2018 municipal elections in Bratislava, and subsequently became the city's mayor. After the 2019 Slovak presidential election, the victory of its presidential candidate, 45-year-old lawyer Zuzana Čaputová, was hailed by international media commentators as a victory of liberalism over populism. According to political scientist Michael Rossi, Čaputová's popularity is related to her appeal as an outsider amidst frustration over political corruption and clientelism among the electorate. Čaputová first gained fame as a campaigner against a toxic waste dump created by real estate brokers who were connected to the ruling Smer-SD, which led to many commentators describing her as the "Slovak Erin Brockovich". While campaigning for the presidency, Čaputová focused on the issues of corruption, inflation, justice, the environment, and overhaul of healthcare, and ran on the slogan "stand up to evil". She stayed silent on the issue of immigration and open borders, which most Slovaks were opposed to, and was the only major candidate not to condemn the Global Compact for Migration.

PS got the highest share in the 2019 European Parliament election in Slovakia, earning over 20.1% of the vote and becoming the largest party represented in the Slovak section of the European Parliament, with the Smer-SD's 15.7% and the neo-fascist Kotleba – People's Party Our Slovakia's 12.1%. For the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election, PS signed a cooperation agreement and non-aggression pact with former president Andrej Kiska's extra-parliamentary For the People party and the Christian Democratic Movement. In an upset on election day, the PS/SPOLU coalition narrowly missed on entering the National Council after finishing with 6.96% of the vote, as coalitions must reach a threshold of 7% in order to enter Parliament.

Ideology
Progressive Slovakia is generally described as social-liberal, as well as liberal. The party is socially progressive, holding culturally liberal views, and is pro-European. PS is economically liberal, and occasionally called neoliberal. PS also support queer rights, such as same-sex unions and same-sex marriage. The party refuses to cooperate with nationalist and populist parties, such as Direction – Slovak Social Democracy, Slovak National Party, Republic, and People's Party Our Slovakia.

The party's position on the political spectrum is nuanced, and has been debated. Internationally, PS has been generally described as centrist, or centre-left,   and as being ideologically modelled on the Renaissance party in France. Slovak politologist Darina Malová positioned the party on the left-wing of the political spectrum, labeling them a "modern left-wing" party; she distinguished them from the "old school" left-wing Slovak parties, such as Direction – Social Democracy. Despite this, the party is generally associated with the centre-right in Slovakia, with the majority of its voters describing themselves as right-wing, and they have an overlapping voter base with the conservative Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO), centre-right For the People, and right-libertarian Freedom and Solidarity.

European representation
In the European Parliament, PS sits in the Renew Europe group with two MEPs. The party joined the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party in November 2018. In the European Committee of the Regions, PS sits in the Renew Europe CoR group with one full member for the 2020–2025 mandate.