Although Marek Mikič spent a few years studying and working abroad, he never expected to leave his native Slovakia permanently. He had a group of close friends and a music festival to run in the eastern town of Košice.

But he changed his mind last September after the re-election of Robert Fico, a populist who promised he would stop military aid to Ukraine, promote conservative family values, and muzzle the courts that have been investigating high-level corruption cases tied to his allies.

“The election was the last straw for me,” said Mikič, a DJ and concert promoter who recently moved to Prague. “I’m not saying everything in the Czech Republic is ideal, but I would rather be here than back home.”

Like tens of thousands of other young progressive Slovaks, Mikič finds his country increasingly close-minded, corrupt and out of sync with the liberal west. Fico’s mix of nationalism, leftist populism and social conservatism has brought Slovakia closer to Viktor Orbán’s Hungary. Like Orbán, Fico spreads pro-Russian propaganda and tries to muzzle independent media.