Slovakia’s prime minister shot
Robert Fico: populist, friend of Russia, father
May 15, 2024, 7:51 p.m
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Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was critically injured in an assassination attempt, is one of the country’s most experienced politicians. While the 59-year-old is very popular with a large part of the population, the pro-Russian populist continues to attract international criticism.
Robert Fico, who was critically injured in an assassination attempt in the town of Handlova, has shaped politics in Slovakia for almost two decades. In four terms as head of government, he has endeared himself to a large part of the Slovak population, for example by rejecting tough austerity measures during the financial crisis from 2008. With his tough stance on the issue of migration and his country’s rapprochement with Vladimir Putin’s Russia, he has come a long way caused a stir about Slovakia.
After the election victory of his Smer-SD party last September, Fico once again became head of government in the country with around 5.4 million inhabitants. In a coalition with far-right parties, the populist implemented the change in foreign policy that he had promised in the election campaign: Slovakia, a member of the EU and NATO and until then a staunch supporter of Ukraine, interrupted arms deliveries to the country attacked by Russia neighboring country. Among other things, the 59-year-old called on the government in Kiev to cede territory to Russia.
“Forever on the side of the Soviet Union”
Fico began his political career with the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia shortly before the Velvet Revolution brought down the system. In 1999 – six years after the country was split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia – Fico left the left-wing SDL party, which had inherited the communist legacy in Bratislava. He founded the social democratic Smer-SD (Smer means direction).
Fico’s political socialization under communism continues to influence his view of Russia, writes the Slovak sociologist Michal Vasecka in a book about him published in 2023. His relationship with Moscow is “historically determined by the socialist motto: ‘Eternally at the side of the Soviet Union’.” Fico also “definitely appreciates Putin’s authoritarian system of government.”
Against austerity – and migrants
The 59-year-old is a lawyer by profession and speaks English fluently. He first came to attention on the European stage when he represented his country at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg from 1994 to 2000.
In 2006, a landslide election victory for the Smer-SD brought Fico into the office of head of government for the first time. At that time, he entered into an alliance with the ultra-right Slovak National Party (SNS), with whom he shares, among other things, hostility towards migrants. His popularity in the country grew when he refused to implement strict austerity measures in Slovakia during the 2008 financial crisis.
Nevertheless, his party lost the 2010 election. However, he returned to power just two years later when a center-right coalition collapsed due to corruption allegations. During the 2015 refugee crisis, Fico propagated an anti-migrant stance and heavily criticized the EU’s quota system for distributing refugees. Fico said at the time that he would not allow “a strong Muslim community to emerge in Slovakia.”
Murdered journalist researched government connection to mafia
The Smer-SD also won the 2016 elections, but Fico’s term ended two years later after the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancé. Kuciak exposed connections between the Italian Mafia and the Fico government in an article published posthumously. The crime triggered a wave of protests against the government in Slovakia, and Fico resigned.
Fico is married to the lawyer Svetlana Ficova and they have a son together. The former communist is enthusiastic about fast cars, football and expensive watches – his favorite saying is: Patience brings roses.