I also asked Dominique about something I have heard from a lot of people during my travels, that their countrymen are attracted to strongman leaders.

And I particularly, you know, I mean, it's also a question about how Slovaks construct the narrative of who they are, which is, I think, a very interesting and important topic.

And it is true that it's a topic that it's riddled with profound conflicts and has been like that basically since the since the 19th century and since the kind of spring of nations when the Slovaks for the first time actually defined themselves as a nation and basically I think that the issue is the following, somehow.

I think that there is a deep structural rift within the Slovak social elite, or among the thought leaders of the Slovak nation, It is related to the structural position of Slovakia and its statehood, which has for a very long time been part of other national projects.

For a very long time, Slovak elite has always been split on how to position themselves.

In the Hungarian kingdom, especially in the 19th century, there were people for whom the identity was Hungarian, they spoke Slovak, but they felt that the identity was a natural part.

of Hungarian kingdom that they felt as Hungarians who spoke Slovak.

Hungarian too,