Robert Fico, Prime Minister of Slovakia, was shot and is reported to be in a life-threatening condition. Photo: ATTILA KYSBENEDEK/AFP
He even compared the German troops stationed in Slovakia and using NATO air defenses to the Nazis, saying during a televised debate the phrase “a great strong Germany, über alles, is ready to do anything to protect its national interests “.
He has tapped into mixed views about NATO's benefits in Slovakia, where recent polls show only 51 percent would vote to remain in the alliance if a referendum were held. According to another study, about 60 percent of Slovaks aged 25 to 64 also want to stop arming Ukraine.
Fico's election victory raised concerns about Bratislava's turnaround in support for Ukraine, as his predecessor had provided Kyiv with howitzers, accepted tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees and was the first leader to send MiG-29 fighter jets. However, he has publicly condemned Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and has also stated his opposition to the annexation of Crimea.
Mr Fico was born in northwestern Slovakia in 1964 and first worked as a lawyer. and then was elected in 1992 as a deputy for the Democratic Left Party, successor to the Communist Party.
He is known for his love of bodybuilding, fast cars and football, and for being one of the most vocal critics of masks and Covid restrictions in Slovakia. He currently holds the record for the longest tenure as prime minister in Slovak history.
After switching to Smer, he won the 2006 general election and served as leader again from 2012–2018, after which he filed for resignation. amid the political crisis caused by the murder of Jan Kuciak, an investigative journalist.
After the invasion of Ukraine, he became much closer to Viktor Orban, the increasingly Putin-friendly leader of Hungary.
Robert Fico expressed sympathy for Vladimir Putin’s military campaign in Ukraine, calling for the lifting of sanctions. Photo: DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP
A recent profile in Politico suggests Mr Fico “hated” Ukraine because he was forced into war. 2009 will wait in Kyiv for more than three hours for a meeting with a Ukrainian colleague regarding natural gas supplies.
He was then embarrassed to discover that journalists had been invited to what he thought was a private meeting, leaving him “red with rage” according to one insider.
After being snubbed in Kyiv , Mr. Fico flew away. to Moscow, where Putin rolled out the red carpet for the welcoming ceremony in St. George's Hall. From that moment on, he “began to take an openly anti-Ukrainian position,” said Slovak foreign policy analyst Alexander Duleba.
“He said that we don’t need to support the Ukrainians, Ukraine doesn’t need us, they don’t have serious conversations with us. It's personal,” he added.
Miroslav Vlahovsky, the former Slovak foreign minister, said of the diplomatic incident: “He definitely remembers what happened in 2009.”
G- n Fico also publicly clashed in March 2024 with the British ambassador to Slovakia, who published a video message in which he called the Slovak leader to account for criticizing EU member states' support for Ukraine.
“To say that we or the West do not interested in the world – this is wrong. This is not true,” the diplomat said. “A bad peace will not solve the threat of Russian aggression to European and global security.”
Before Fico's election, one analyst said Slovakia was “one of Ukraine's most ardent supporters in NATO.” . Now its position under Fico's leadership looks much more uncertain.
Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico in life – threatening condition after the assassination attempt Read more
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