 Under the premiership of Mečiar prone to populism, exclusivist Slovak nationalism,
and the use of extralegal measures, independent Slovakia approached
authoritarianism.Mečiar turned the Hungarian minority into a scapegoat for Slovakia's bad economic situation.Numerous articles and books containing anti-Hungarian propaganda appeared, and the Hungarians were accused for the destruction of the 'first Slovak state', and for the ‘one-millennium-long oppression’ of Slovak nation.