In his first public comments since the May 15th attempt on his life, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico lambasted the opposition for cultivating an environment of “hatred and aggressiveness.” The prime minister also blamed Western democracies for not respecting countries such as Slovakia that have a sovereign foreign policy, saying they aim to marginalise states that deviate from US/EU mainstream thinking on issues such as the war on Ukraine.
Robert Fico is recovering at home after being shot at point-blank range three weeks ago by 71-year-old Juraj Cintula, a poet and writer with a history of taking part in anti-Fico demonstrations.
The prime minister, who has led a left-wing nationalist, sovereigntist government since last October, was in serious, life-threatening condition for many days, and had to undergo multiple surgeries in hospital. He was transferred home last week, is receiving outpatient care, and is on his way to making a recovery.
In a video message posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday, June 5th, Fico said the attack caused serious damage to his health, and it would be “a minor miracle if I return back to work in a few weeks.” He forgave the perpetrator, and will not seek any legal action against him, nor demand compensation. “I forgive him, and let him sort out what he did and why he did it in his own head,” Fico said.
However, the prime minister blamed opposition parties for fuelling tensions in Slovakia and reminded his viewers that he had previously warned that something like this would happen. The gunman, he said, was not “some madman” but “a messenger of the evil and political hatred” fostered by the opposition in Slovakia, which has organised a series of protests against the government in recent months.
Robert Fico came back into power last year in what is his fourth tenure as prime minister of the EU and NATO member state. He won the elections on an EU-critical, anti-immigration, and anti-war platform. Just like his Hungarian colleague, conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, he has refused to send weapons to Ukraine and has called for peace talks to begin, aiming to end Ukraine’s war with Russia. This rhetoric has angered EU institutions and Western elites, leading them to accuse Fico of ‘rule-of-law’ violations. The prime minister’s ally Peter Pellegrini won the presidential election in April, defeating Europhile candidate Ivan Korčok, further souring relations with Western countries.
“A self-confident sovereign Slovak foreign policy, although based on membership in the EU and NATO, but oriented towards all four corners of the world, is simply not in vogue,” he said on Wednesday, adding that anyone who does not agree with continuing the war in Ukraine at any cost in order to weaken Russia, is “immediately labelled as a Russian agent and politically marginalised internationally.” As an example, he mentioned the suspension of his party Smer’s membership in the Party of European Socialists, and attempts to break up the Central European V4 regional cooperation, “with the justification that Slovakia and Hungary have differing views on some international topics.” Fico said he rejects interference in the internal affairs of other countries, and added that “the right to a different opinion has ceased to exist in the EU.”
Fico went on to say that the previous centre-right-liberal government “fully submitted to the interests of large countries,” and, “joined the camp of countries promoting a military solution to the conflict in Ukraine. In return, the Slovak government could do as it pleased.” Despite rule-of-law violations observed by Fico and his party at that time (2020-2023)—which the Smer leader described as “a widespread abuse of the Penal Code to liquidate the opposition”—not a single word of criticism was uttered by international actors. According to Fico:
For large democracies, it is much more important to have political forces available in Slovakia that are ready to do anything that benefits foreign interests, even if it is in direct contradiction to Slovakia’s national priorities.
As we previously reported, Fico’s government dismantled the special prosecutor’s office, a body investigating corruption cases, which Fico and his allies said was being misused by the previous government to clamp down on its rivals. Brussels warned Fico that the criminal law overhaul could possibly mean ‘rule-of-law’ procedures being launched and Slovakia’s EU funds frozen.
The prime minister said physical threats against high-ranking government politicians have “become an acceptable standard for aggressive representatives of the opposition,” an opposition that is well aware that a “self-confident and sovereign Slovak foreign policy does not have much support in international organisations, of which Slovakia is a member.”
Responding to Fico’s comments, Michal Šimečka, leader of the largest opposition party, liberal Progressive Slovakia, said he was glad that Fico was recovering well but regretted the prime minister’s decision to attack his political foes, the media, and the EU. “Unfortunately nothing has changed in his politics,” Simecka said in a statement.
Slovakians will go to the polls on Saturday, June 8th, to elect the Slovak Members of the European Parliament. According to the latest opinion polls: of the 15 European Parliament seats allocated to Slovakia, the governing parties are expected to gain six, Progressive Slovakia is projected to get four, right-wing Eurosceptic Republika two, and three seats will go to three smaller opposition parties.
