A new addition to the list of politicians who have either scummed or survived an assassination attempt is Slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fico. A fierce nationalist, Fico has throughout his governance, successfully navigated between pro-EU positions and anti-western rhetoric
Robert Fico is a Slovakian politician serving his third term as Prime Minister of the central European country. On Wednesday, he was shot in the town of Handlova, where he had been meeting supporters, and was immediately airlifted to nearby hospital. A day after, members from his administration addressed the media and asserted Mr. Fico is “out of danger.” His survival story will be considered a heroic one, remembered and recounted for generations to come.
But his political story has drawn profound criticism from his anonymous critics who worry that Fico is abandoning Slovakia’s pro-western course and amplifying ties with Hungary under prime minister, Viktor Orban. His ministerial occupation stretching all the way back to 1989 Velvet Revolution – that led to the breakup of former Czechoslovakia, marked the beginning of his political career with Communist party.
Serving Slovakia’s representative to the European Court of Human Rights from 1994 to 2000, built in Mr. Fico a fierce nationalist, who reattempted in all his campaigns his go-to appeal that he only has Slovakian interests at heart. In a three-decade long career, Robert Fico has navigated his mainstream agendas to empower pro-EU positions and inflame anti-western rhetoric. He has culminated an outspoken disposition – savaging the E.U., insulting his rivals, opposing immigration and alleging a coup plot.
History of Robert Fico’s political attempts
Born into a working-class family on 15 September 1964, Fico – a lawyer by profession, set up his center-left Smer-SD party in 1999 after being turned down a ministerial post by the Democratic Left. His Smer party won a landslide victory in 2006, catapulting Fico into the prime minister’s seat two years after Slovakia joined the EU. He scored another landslide victory in 2012 after the fall of a center-right coalition over corruption allegation, and won again in 2016 – but had to resign two years later amid mass protests alleging Fico over the murder of an investigative journalist and his fiancée.
In October 2023, Mr. Fico returned for a third-term as a PM and the head of a populist-national coalition. His seat in the highest executive office had embroiled him into abundance of controversies and corruption allegations that he has always denied. Most of his controversies spawn from his brash, and outspoken character, with a penchant for bodybuilding, football and fast cars.
Factory of his political policies has recently been under fire. His attempted admiration for Vladimir Putin, who he defends is working in the interests of his country and his people, has pivoted many away from Mr. Fico’s discourse. During the covid pandemic, he became the country’s only prominent voice against masks, lockdowns, and vaccinations. Before taking office as the PM of Slovakia, the high-level Pro-Russia sentiment that was lingering among Slovakians, Mr. Fico attempted to exploit it to curtail the incumbent government’s pro-western agenda.
His fierce opposition of immigration and his attempts to bolster stricter immigration laws in the country became a key factor in his 2016 election win – his rejection of “a distinct Muslim community in Slovakia” also received comfortable applause. More recently, he has criticized same-sex marriage and described adoption by a same-sex couple, a “perversion.”
Political attempts by Mr. Fico in his third-term as P.M
Mr. Fico’s beginning of his third term as Slovakia’s prime minister and his policies afterwards forced thousands of people to carry rallies across state capital and across Slovakia, in disapprobation of Fico’s political mandate. In February, Mr. Fico attempted to scrap a special prosecutor’s office that was dealing with high-level corruption through a legislation that also lowered penalties for financial crimes, and cut the statute of limitation for rape.
In April, the government approved a proposal to abolish the public broadcaster and replace it with a new body The plan had drawn fierce criticism from opposition parties, who say it was a deliberate attempt by the ruling government to have a full control of public radio and television. Also in April, Peter Pellegrini, an anti-Ukraine and close ally of Fico, won a run-off vote in presidential election against the liberal, pro-western opposition candidate, Ivan Korcok.
Ceremony to commemorate Peter Pellegrini’s presidential takeover from the first female head of state, Zuzana Caputova, a staunch backer of neighboring Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, announced that she would not contest for re-election after receiving death threats. Robert Fico’s attempted assassination paints a broader picture of his political endeavors that failed to touch hearts of Slovakian’s and are looking for change in the system.
