Robert Fico (Slovak:[ˈrɔbertˈfitsɔ]; born 15 September 1964) is a Slovak politician who is currently serving as the prime minister of Slovakia since 2023. He previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. He founded the left-wing political party Direction – Social Democracy in 1999 and has led the party since. Fico holds a record as the longest-serving prime minister in the country's history, having served for over 11 years. First elected to Parliament in 1992, he was appointed the following year to the Czechoslovak delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly to the Council of Europe. Following his party's victory in the 2006 parliamentary election, he formed his first Cabinet. His political positions have been described as populist, left-wing and conservative.
After the 2010 parliamentary election, Fico served as an opposition member of parliament, effectively holding the position of the leader of the opposition. Following a motion of no confidence against the Iveta Radičová cabinet, Fico was re-appointed prime minister after leading Smer to a landslide election victory in the 2012 parliamentary election, winning 83 seats and forming a government with an absolute majority in Parliament, the first such since 1989. In 2013, Fico declared his candidacy for the 2014 presidential election. Fico lost the election to his political rival Andrej Kiska in the second round of voting on 29 March 2014.[1] In March 2018, owing to the political crisis following the murder of Ján Kuciak, Fico delivered his resignation to Kiska, who then charged Deputy Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini with the formation of a new government.
During the 2023 parliamentary election, Fico vowed to end military support for Slovakia's neighbor Ukraine, which was being invaded by Russia. His party Smer won 22.95% of the vote and 42 seats, becoming the largest party. Fico formed a coalition with Voice – Social Democracy (Hlas), a party founded in 2020 by Pellegrini and other dissidents of Fico's Smer, and with the Slovak National Party, and began his fourth term as prime minister on 25 October. Fico's government has stopped military aid to Ukraine, moved to take greater control of the media, and abolished the Special Prosecutor's Office that dealt with corruption. These moves sparked mass protests. On 15 May 2024, Fico was hospitalized after an attempted assassination.
Early life and education
Fico was born on 15 September 1964 in the town of Topoľčany, northwestern Nitra Region. His father, Ľudovit Fico, was a forklift operator, and his mother, Emilie Ficová, worked in a shoe store. He has two siblings. His brother Ladislav is a construction entrepreneur, and his sister Lucia Chabadová, who is fourteen years younger, is a prosecutor.[2][3] Fico grew up and lived with his family in the village of Hrušovany, until the age of six, when they moved to the nearby town of Topoľčany.[3]
Fico has described his childhood ambitions as wanting to become either a politician, a sports reporter, or an archaeologist.[4] After completing elementary school, he enrolled in the local Gymnasium of Topoľčany, graduating in the summer of 1982. Later the same year he enrolled in the Law Faculty of the Comenius University in Bratislava, in what was then Czechoslovakia. His teachers were impressed with him, and one of his teachers from university, the future prime minister Jozef Moravčík, described him as "ambitious, very confident and very involved in discussions." He graduated as juris doctor in 1986 specializing in criminal law.[5]
After graduating from university, Fico completed his mandatory military service as an assistant military investigator, stationed in the now-Czech town of Janovice, between 1986 and 1987. He later worked for the Institute of State and Law of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, as well as with the Justice Ministry until 1992.[6] During this period he wrote and completed his PhD degree, with a thesis on "The death penalty in Czechoslovakia". In the early 1990s, he undertook studies at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London under a Masaryk scholarship.[7] In 2002, he completed his postgraduate study, earning him the title of associate professor.[8]
Early career (1992–2006)
Fico joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1986, having applied in 1984. After the Velvet Revolution of 1989, and the collapse of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, Fico joined the Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ), a successor of the Communist Party of Slovakia. He was first elected as member of parliament in 1992. From 1994 to 2000 Fico represented Slovakia as its legal counsel at the European Court of Human Rights but lost all 14 cases which he handled.[9] In 1998, he was elected deputy chairman of the party. Later in 1998, Fico ran for the post of general prosecutor; his party endorsed another candidate instead, arguing that Fico was too young.[10]
In the 1998 elections that saw the fall of the government of Vladimír Mečiar, Fico received the biggest number of preferential votes among his party colleagues. A year later, when support for the SDĽ dropped below the threshold required to get into parliament, he left the party, saying he was disappointed with the way the government worked.[10] As early as in the autumn of 1998, a four-person group consisting of Fico, his associate Frantisek Határ, political strategist Fedor Flašík, and media executive Monika Flašíková-Beňová had begun to discuss and lay plans for launching a new political party on the left. These plans were driven by the falling popularity of the existing parties, and the rising popularity of Fico.[4][11]
Almost immediately after leaving SDĽ, the group founded Direction – Social Democracy (SMER), which Fico first labelled a party of the third way, with himself as leader. Fico established himself as an opposition politician criticizing the unpopular reforms of the right-wing government of Mikuláš Dzurinda.[10] In order to keep SMER from repeating the fate of his previous party, Fico introduced a strict set of regulations for his new party, called the "clean hands" policy. The rules stipulated that no one with ties from the previous Communist regime or people who had background with other political parties was allowed to hold party office. This created a new generation of politicians uninvolved in previous corruption scandals; among them was Monika Flašíková-Beňová, Robert Kaliňák, and Pavol Paška.[4] Another rule was that all party chapters on the regional and local levels were to be 100% financially self-sufficient, and all financial donations were to be made public to the media.[11]
Between 2002 and 2006, Smer was the main opposition party in the Slovak parliament. In 2004, it merged with nearly all the leftist parties active on the Slovak political scene, including its parent party SDĽ, becoming the single most dominant political party in Slovakia.[10]
A large part of Fico's election victory in 2006 was attributed to his loud criticism of the previous right-wing government's economic, tax, social, pension and legislative reforms, which had been backed by international bodies like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the OECD.[16] One reaction to the coalition came from the European-wide Party of European Socialists (PES), who suspended SMER's application to join the PES. In late February 2008, the Assembly of the PES conditionally reinstated the application after both SMER and SNS signed a letter committing themselves to respect minority rights.[17][18] Fico never publicly condemned SNS' remarks and speeches, and government-level relations between Slovakia and Hungary deteriorated in his first term in office. Several meetings between the two countries' prime ministers were abruptly cancelled, and those few that did take place resulted in little improvement of relations.[19]
On 10 April 2007, the deputy director of the Slovak Land Fund and HZDS nominee Branislav Bríza signed a contract on the basis of which restitutors from eastern Slovakia became the owners of lucrative land in the Tatra village of Veľký Slavkov. These restitutors then quickly sold the land to the company GVM for 13 million Slovak crowns (Slovak currency prior to euro). The figurehead of the company was a friend of Mečiar Milan Bališ. Bríza did so while his boss Hideghéty was on vacation. 10 April was the last day when Bríza had full power acting on behalf of his boss in the absence of his boss. This was the seventh suspicious contract he had signed up to that point.[20][21] Such practices were previously criticized by Fico as they were common during the tenure of his Coalition partner HDZS leader Mečiar. This scandal almost led to the collapse of the Coalition. It led to the Minister of Agriculture for HDZS Miroslav Jureňa resigning. Fico demanded Bríza to resign. Estimated damage to the state was half a billion Slovak crowns. Justice was delivered on 8 September 2015 when Bríza was deemed guilty and sentenced to 2 years probation.[20][21]
Before the 2010 election, Fico's party was in a relatively strong position according to several polls; however, just before the election, a political scandal broke out, and was described as one of the gravest in the country's 17-year history.[22] A voice recording surfaced, with a voice strongly resembling that of Fico,[23] in which he claimed to have raised several million euros in undeclared funds for the 2002 election, as well as calling for a "parallel financial structure" to be created for the financing of Smer's election campaign. Slovak media sources, such as Sme, carried the news about the recording in great detail; Fico dismissed it as a forgery.[22]
Fico attacked the media sources that published information about the recording, saying: "Should I go over there and give you a smack because you are scoundrels? What you are doing is unheard of. You are masturbating on the prime minister every day."[22]Sme announced Fico has since been questioned on the matter. Former Minister of Justice Daniel Lipšic told the press he has "handed the recording to the general attorney office." In the election, Fico's SMER remained the biggest party in Parliament, with 62 seats, while his coalition partners were decimated, with the HZDS being completely shut out. Unable to find a partner willing to give him the 14 seats he needed to stay in office, Fico resigned. He said he "respects the election result", and expressed his desire to lead a resolute opposition after his narrow loss.[24]
Following the fall of the centre-right coalition government that replaced his, Fico's Smer-SD returned to power being the first party since the breakup of Czechoslovakia to win an absolute majority of seats. Fico initially sought to form a national unity government with SDKU or KDH. When this failed, he formed the first one-party government in Slovakia since 1993.
Fico with UK Prime Minister David Cameron, 4 February 2016
On 18 December 2013, Fico officially announced his candidacy for the upcoming 2014 presidential election.[25] He said: "I understand my candidacy as a service to Slovakia." He argued that he did not see his candidacy as an adventure, an escape or an attempt to culminate his political career. His campaign ran under the motto "Ready for Slovakia".[10] On 9 January 2014, the Slovak Parliament, under Speaker Pavol Paška, officially approved the candidatures of Fico and 14 other candidates.[26] Fico was defeated by the independent candidate Andrej Kiska, whose support from the Slovak right wing led him to victory by a wide margin (approximately 59%–41%) in the second round of voting on 29 March 2014.[27]
Fico meets with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, Polish prime minister Beata Szydło and Czech prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka in Budapest, Hungary, on 4 July 2017Fico with President of the European Council Donald Tusk and Estonian prime minister Jüri Ratas in Tallinn, Estonia, 2017
On 14 March 2018, Fico publicly stated that he was ready to tender his resignation as prime minister in order to avoid a snap election, as well as to "solve the political crisis" involving the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak.[31][32] Kuciak also examined the work of the Italian mafia 'Ndrangheta in Slovakia. According to the police, Mária Trošková, who is an assistant to Fico, could have ties to 'Ndrangheta.[33] In the immediate aftermath of the crime, Fico implied that he had taken personal control of the investigation while posing with €1m in cash. At the time, he said he wanted to give a clear pro-European and pro-NATO orientation direction to his party. Fico had earlier in March accused President Kiska of plotting with George Soros to topple his government.[34]
Fico's announcement came after a meeting with President Kiska. In that meeting, Fico laid out a number of specific conditions that needed to be met by the president in order for him to resign.[35] Those conditions were amongst others, that the result of the 2016 Slovak parliamentary election be respected, that the current ruling government coalition must continue, and that Smer-SD as the largest party currently in parliament, name the next prime minister. Fico stated that he already had a candidate in mind. Slovak media widely reported that the next prime minister would be Deputy Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini.[35][36][37] On 15 March, President Kiska formally accepted the resignation of prime minister Fico and his cabinet, and thereby tasked Pellegrini with forming a new government.[38]
Political wilderness (2018–2022)
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2024)
Fico spent a number of years after his 2018 resignation in the political wilderness.[39][40][41] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fico advocated against vaccines, masks and lockdowns and spread disinformation about vaccine effects.[42][43]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2023)
In 2022 and 2023, Fico was a loud critic of the Von der Leyen Commission and her foreign and military policies in relation to Russian invasion of Ukraine. He also expressed disagreements with the European Commission in questions of immigration. Simultaneously, he continued to applaud and support his party's former presidential candidate and European Commissioner candidate Maroš Šefčovič. His campaign for premier used all of these planks.[44] His party Smer won 22.95% of the vote and 42 seats, becoming the largest party.[45] Fico formed a coalition with Voice – Social Democracy (Hlas), a party founded in 2020 by Pellegrini and other dissidents of Fico's Smer, and with the Slovak National Party. Fico's new cabinet was sworn in on 25 October 2023.[46] Fico attended a two-day European Union (EU) summit that began the next day.[47] In 2023, Fico referred to adoption by same-sex couples as a perversion, stated that he would never support same-sex marriage. He said that "gender ideology in schools is unacceptable".[48]
Fico's ruling coalition passed a law that shut down the Special Prosecutor's Office, which had dealt with serious corruption. Investigations by the office had led to many high-profile corruption cases and convictions, many of them involving Fico's MPs, party members and business partners. The changes also include a reduction in punishment for corruption. The ruling coalition fast-tracked the amendments through parliament, limiting the time for debate and preventing the draft law from being reviewed by experts and others usually involved in the process. The changes were opposed by the Slovak president and opposition, and sparked large protests in Slovakia.[49][50]
Fico's government has also moved to take greater control of the media. Under the plans, the current public radio and television network RTVS would be replaced by a new organization, controlled by a government-appointed council. This was condemned as an attack on press freedom by President Zuzana Caputova, local journalists, the opposition, international media organizations, the European Commission and others, who warned that the changes would give the government full control of Slovak public television and radio. These proposed changes also led to mass protests.[49][51]
On 15 May 2024, around 14:30 (2:30 PM), Fico was injured in a shooting in Handlová, Slovakia, in front of the city's House of Culture after a government meeting,[52][53] and was subsequently hospitalized at the F.D. Roosevelt Hospital in Banská Bystrica.[54] A 71-year-old poet named Juraj Cintula was immediately detained by police as a primary suspect.[52] Fico was reportedly in a "life-threatening" condition following the attack, having suffered wounds to his stomach, arms, and legs but was stabilised following emergency surgery, and was expected to recover according to deputy prime minister Tomáš Taraba.[55][56]
On 30 May, Fico was discharged from hospital and was allowed to continue his recovery at home.[57] On 5 June 2024, Fico made his first comments on the attack, saying that he forgave the attacker as he is only the "messenger of evil" of the opposition. He added that he expected to return to work later that month or in July.[58]
Senior politicians from Fico's ruling coalition blamed independent media and the opposition for the assassination attempt, alleging that they influenced the shooter. Slovak journalists and opposition leaders feared that the government would use the assassination attempt to crack down on them.[59] The shooting was unanimously condemned by the National Council.[60]
Ideological views
At that time (2022) NRSR deputy Robert Fico, the future prime minister, at the Slovak Matica event - the unveiling of the bust of the writer and left-wing intellectual Vladimír Mináč.
Fico originally advocated the third way (recognition of the value of the market and business, but the role of government and a strong state), at the same time but his views gradually evolved.[61] He is committed to the left[citation needed] and patriotism, on the basis of which he renamed the Smer party to the Slovak Social Democracy.[62] Fico is critical of the Western model of the left, which he calls "the Brussels left".[63] In response to the fact that the European Socialists suspended Smer's full membership and Hlas's associate membership of the Party of European Socialists (PES), Fico said that he was proud of his party, Smer, and did not intend to change his views.[64]
Fico is a member of the Slovak Matica, which he supports,[74] and Slovak Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters. From a geopolitical point of view, he has been talking about "the politics of the four world directions" for a long time.[75]
Domestic policy
Mass media
Fico's government has moved to take greater control of the media. The public radio and television network RTVS was replaced by a new organization, controlled by a government-appointed council. There was strong opposition to the plans both inside and outside Slovakia. Noel Curran, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) director general, said in a statement that "This appears to be a thinly veiled attempt to turn the Slovak public service broadcaster into state-controlled media". In 2023, Fico's government also cut off communication with four domestic media outlets, calling them "hostile" and "not objective enough". Instead, it favors pro-Russian media such as Hlavné správy.[49][51]
Labour policies
At the start of his second term as prime minister in 2012, Fico introduced a new Labour Code, which granted entitlement to a lay-off notice period, as well as severance pay, reduced overtime, making layoffs more expensive for employers, shorter temporary work contracts, and more power for trade unions. In addition, it curbed the chaining of fixed-term employment contracts, whereby it was possible to extend a fixed-term employment contract three times over three years.[76] The Labour Code was revised in 2014 when it introduced severe restrictions of the work on agreement performed outside regular employment. Under the latest revision, employers were able to conclude agreements with employees for 12 months only.[77]
Finance
One of the few modifications Fico's government implemented was a slight modification to the unusual flat tax system introduced by the previous government, in a way that slightly decreased or eradicated a tax-free part of income for higher income earners. A lower value added tax was imposed on medications and books; despite his electoral promises, Fico failed to extend this onto a wider group of products such as groceries. Among the measures were controversial legislative changes which effectively banned private health insurance companies from generating profit. As a result, Slovakia is being sued by several foreign shareholders of local health insurers through international arbitrations.[78]
Road tolls
In 2010, Fico faced large-scale protests and a blockade of major cities by truckers upset about what they considered to be badly implemented tolls on the highways. Truckers demanded that fuel prices be lowered to compensate for the tolls.[79] Fico initially refused to speak with representatives of the truckers, saying he would not "be blackmailed". A few days later, he capitulated, and the cuts given to truckers amounted to about €100,000,000.[79]
Retail Chains
In 2007, Fico criticised retail chains for price gouging. He said he would change the law to curb "the abuse of economic power by some retail chains".[80]
Nationalisation
In August 2008, Fico threatened the foreign shareholders of the local gas distributor SPP (the French Gaz de France and the German E.ON) with nationalization of their subsidiary and seizure of their ownership shares in a dispute over retail gas prices.[81][82]
Foreign policy
China
Fico has been in favor of closer relations with China. His government voted against European Union tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) in 2024.[83] Fico visited China in 2024, where he called for expanded trade and invested cooperation and praised China's peace plans for Ukraine.[84]
In foreign relations with Europe, Fico's government faced controversies due to its affiliation with the internationally isolated parties of Vladimír Mečiar and Ján Slota.[85][86] Under his leadership, Slovakia entered the Eurozone in 2009, and Fico himself in a speech to the Oxford Union praised Slovakia's entry into the EU as a "success story." Fico opposed Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia, which he called a "major mistake".[87][88] Slovakia has not recognised Kosovo as a sovereign state; one of Fico's three cabinets have recognised Kosovo and he continued to iterate his opposition towards recognition afterwards.[44] Responding to the 2013 Euromaidan protests in Ukraine, Fico declared that the "EU is no religious obligation", and said the EU was "so in love with itself" that it is convinced there is no better alternative to it in the world. He subsequently condemned the use of violence but said that the protests were an internal affair in Ukraine.[89]
Fico and other V4 leaders with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the V4-Israel summit in Budapest, 19 July 2017
Commenting on Brexit in November 2016, Fico stated that it was unclear what the United Kingdom (UK) wanted, adding that it "must suffer" more than the 27 countries who would remain in the bloc. He also stated that the UK would not be allowed to make EU workers "second-class citizens" while still receiving the benefits of the EU single market. In light of the election of Donald Trump, he commented that it might spur Europe to bolster its military.[90][91] In August 2017, Fico said: "The fundamentals of my policy are being close to the (EU) core, close to France, to Germany. I am very much interested in regional cooperation within the Visegrád Four but Slovakia's vital interest is the EU.[92]
Immigration and Islam
Fico rejected European Commission's plan to distribute refugees and economic migrants from the Middle East and Africa among EU member states, saying: "As long as I am prime minister, mandatory quotas will not be implemented on Slovak territory."[93] He stated that "thousands of terrorists and Islamic State fighters are entering Europe with migrants,[94] and added: "We monitor every single Muslim in Slovakia."[95]
In May 2016, Fico stated that Slovakia would not accept "one single Muslim" migrant into the country, weeks before the country was scheduled to take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU. He further stated: "When I say something now, maybe it will seem strange, but I'm sorry, Islam has no place in Slovakia. I think it is the duty of politicians to talk about these things very clearly and openly. I do not wish there were tens of thousands of Muslims."[96] On 30 November 2016, the Slovak parliament under Fico government passed a bill that requires all religious movements and organizations to have a minimum of 50,000 verified practicing members in order to become state-recognized, up from 20,000.[97][98][99]
After coming to power in 2006, Fico declared that Slovakia's relations with Russia would improve after eight years of "neglect". Fico referred to "Slavonic solidarity". which was a central theme of the Slovak National Awakening in the 1850s. On 4 April 2008, during a visit by Russian prime minister Viktor Zubkov, Fico said: "In Slovakia, there have been efforts to deliberately ignore Slavonic solidarity."[100] Slovakia modernised Russian MiG fighters in Russia and did not buy new jets from the West.[101] Fico accused Georgia of "provoking Russia" in 2008 when Russia invaded Georgia.[102]
In June 2008, The Slovak Spectator published a piece which summarized his foreign policy in this way: Compensating for his lack of close political allies within the EU, the former Czech Social Democratic Party leader Jiří Paroubek being a notable exception, Fico sought to strengthen relations with several non-EU countries such as Serbia and Russia. This broke with a pro-NATO, Western-focused trend established after the 1998 Slovak election.[100] Under his premiership, the Slovak foreign ministry rejected the March 2014 Crimean status referendum, which incorporated Crimea into Russia; Fico himself remained silent on the issue.[103] Regarding the EU sanctions against Russia for its illegal annexation, Fico denounced them as "senseless" and a "threat to the Slovak economy".[104]
Responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Slovakia's neighbor, Fico opposed helping Ukraine to defend itself militarily.[107][108][109] He also vowed to block Ukraine from joining NATO and argued that the accession of Ukraine to the EU by 2025 was unrealistic.[44][110] Fico said that selling or sending Ukraine weapons and military equipment to defend itself has only encouraged more violence. In September 2023, he vowed that if his party won the election "We will not send a single bullet to Ukraine".[107] Fico said that efforts should instead focus on reaching a ceasefire and pushing Ukraine and Russia toward peace talks. He said "Why don't we force the warring parties [to] sit down and find some sort of compromise that would guarantee security for Ukraine?".[107][111] In May 2023, Fico praised the peace plans put forward by the Holy See, Brazil and China.[112] In October 2023, after his re-election, Fico announced Slovakia would not sell or send any more military equipment to Ukraine but would continue to help Ukraine in a humanitarian way and would try to start peace talks.[113][114]
In January 2024 Fico said that "Ukraine is not an independent and sovereign country" and said the only way to end Russia's invasion is for Ukraine to give up some of its land to the invaders.[115]Fico has been accused of spreading pro-Russian disinformation about the Ukrainian war,[116][117][118] for example repeating Kremlin claims that the Donbas War began when "Ukrainian Nazis and fascists started murdering the Russian population of Donbas".[119][120] Members of the Party of European Socialists called for Fico's party to be expelled from the group for allegedly spreading Russian propaganda and for seeking a coalition with the neo-fascist Republic Movement.[118]
Press conference following the meeting of leaders of Visegrád Group, Germany and France, 6 March 2013
Tension between Slovakia and Hungary, unstable from the past, was inflamed in 2006 following the parliamentary election and Fico's decision to include nationalist Ján Slota and his Slovak National Party into his governing coalition. Slota was known for his fierce anti-Hungarian rhetoric, including that "Hungarians are a tumor on the Slovak nation that needs to be immediately removed."[121] In the wake of the election several incidents occurred which further inflamed nationalist sentiment on both sides, including the alleged beating of a Hungarian woman in South Slovakia. Fico reacted by condemning the extremism but rebuked the Hungarian government by declaring: "The Slovak government doesn't need to be called on to strike against extremism."[122] The row heated up again in September 2007, when Fico's government introduced a law making the Beneš decrees inviolable. This was in response to demands from ethnic Hungarian politicians that compensations should be made to persons affected by the decrees.[123]
In May 2008, Fico labelled Hungary a potential threat during a speech commemorating the 161st anniversary of the day that Slovaks demanded national equality with other nations within the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Fico used the anniversary to openly criticise the political situation in Hungary and warn about the influence it might have on Slovakia. Especially he warned against the Hungarian right-wing politician Viktor Orbán, and his party Fidesz, which he called an "extreme nationalist party."[124] By 2012, relations between the two countries had slightly improved.[125] By 2022, Fico's relationship with Orbán's government in Hungary had warmed considerably. In 2022, Fico welcomed Orbán's re-election in Hungary, praising his nationalistic approach and stance on the Russo-Ukrainian war.[126] Similarly, Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó welcomed Fico's return to office in 2023, commenting: "Robert Fico has the same views on the war, migration and gender issues as us."[127]
United States
Fico was a vocal opponent of the one-time planned construction of new U.S. anti-ballistic missile and radar systems in military bases in neighbouring Czech Republic and Poland,[128] and one of his first steps upon taking office was withdrawing Slovak troops from Iraq.[citation needed] Fico described the Iraq War as "unjust and wrong" and said that the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 "caused huge tensions", adding that to speak "about any democracy in Iraq is a fantasy" and that "the security situation [in Iraq] is catastrophic".[129] In November 2013, Fico visited the U.S. president Barack Obama in Washington, D.C., where they spoke about the US-Slovak partnership, which Fico's spokesperson said is "based on shared democratic values and principles," after which he affirmed the strategic partnership between the two countries.[130] In February 2023, Fico and SMER-SD were vocal opponents of the Slovak–American Defence Cooperation Agreement as disadvantageous to Slovakia, attacking Cabinet of Eduard Heger, especially Minister of Defence Jaroslav Naď, as well as President Zuzana Čaputová, accusing the latter of being an "American servant", in reference to promotion of American military and political interests in Slovakia.[44]
Israel
In October 2023, Fico condemned the Hamas-led attack on Israel but rejected "considerations of razing the Gaza Strip to the ground or denying humanitarian aid in this area".[131] In December 2023, he criticized the "hypocrisy" of the EU, which he claimed was reluctant to talk about the high civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip.[132]
Relationship with the media
During his press conferences he often verbally attacks, belittles and taunts the present journalists, often accusing them of bias and attacks on his government. On several occasions he has openly and on record used profanities against specific journalists, such as "idiots", "pricks", "prostitutes", "snakes", and "hyenas".[133][134] He has also been recorded ridiculing journalists' physical appearance.[135] In 2009, Fico repeatedly described the Slovak press as a "new opposition force" that was biased and was harming national and state interests. Fico also accused the press of failing to "stand behind the common people."[136] In July 2012, Fico declared "Eternal Peace" between him and the Slovak press. He also stated his desire to change his attitude towards the media, saying "I think it is enough" and that he does not plan any further lawsuits against media outlets except in extraordinary situations. Fico further said: "You have to spend an incredible amount of energy on it [lawsuits], it means several years of conflict, one conflict takes usually five or six years [to resolve]." He added that lawsuits involve "legal fees, paying a lawyer, everything around that".[137] In November 2016, Fico termed journalists questioning him about allegations of public procurement rules during Slovakia's EU presidency as "dirty, anti-Slovak prostitutes". He also stated the accusations were a targeted attack to smear the country's presidency of the EU.[138]
In November 2021, Fico described journalists as "Soros' corrupt gang of swines for whom water is already boiling."[139] He says that the media is "obsessed" with him and his party; they want to "destroy" it and are "waging a jihad against it."[140] In 2022, Fico repeatedly stated that journalists were an "organized criminal group with the aim of breaking Slovak statehood" and called on the Slovak Police Force to investigate them.[141] In June 2023, Reporters Without Borders asked Fico to stop legitimizing harassment of journalists. This occurred after Fico participated in a discussion with Daniel Bombic, a Slovak YouTuber known as Danny Kollar, for whose arrest three international warrants had been issued due to alleged online harassment and extremist crimes. Matej Príbelský, a journalist of Aktuality.sk who reported on the discussion, received multiple hateful messages and comments, including calls for violence, after Bombic asked his followers to "transmit their comments and impressions" to Príbelský, saying that "the score-settling will follow". RDF reasoned that Fico was legitimizing harassment of journalists by participating in the discussion and not denouncing the calls for violence against Príbelský.[142][143]
Personal life
Fico is married to Svetlana Ficová (née Svobodová), a lawyer and associate professor from Žilina.[144][145][146] They were classmates while both were studying law at the Comenius University in Bratislava, and they married in 1988.[144][147] They have one son together, Michal, who studied at the University of Economics in Bratislava.[148] Apart from his native Slovak, Fico is fluent in English and Russian.[8]
Religion
Fico has rarely discussed his religious life in public. In his application to join the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1984, Fico stated that he was "strictly atheistic", as was required in order to be accepted. According to the testimonial from college added to the application, he held a "scientific Marxist-Leninist worldview" and "no problems with regards to religion."[149]
In a promotional video during presidential election campaign in 2014, Fico said he grew up in a Catholic family and that he considers himself a Catholic. He discussed his baptism, Holy Communion, Confirmation and how the Catholic faith had impacted his childhood.[150] He stated: "Perhaps if I did my profile in relation to the Catholic Church, I would end up better off than any MP of the KDH." He also described growing up with his grandfather, a man who "very strictly respected the rules of standard Christian life", stating that it profoundly impacted him.[151] Patrik Dubovský, a historian and former researcher of the National Memory Institute, considers it to be an attempt to manipulate public opinion because "confirmation was in direct conflict with Communist Party membership, whose political programme was based on atheism." During the Communist period, religiously active people were severely persecuted, especially after the repression of Charter 77.[149]
During a televised debate, Fico refused to answer a television presenter's question about whether he is a Christian or an atheist, and said that he considered it a private matter.[152] Regarding the sacraments, Fico said that he was baptised as an infant and the Holy Communion with Confirmation followed afterwards, as he said it was with every child who grew up in his home village.[153]
Alleged extramarital affairs
In August 2010, Fico was photographed around midnight in a gay bar in downtown Bratislava together with a woman, who was later revealed to be 25-year-old Jana Halászová, a secretary at the Smer-SD party headquarters. It was later revealed that Halászová had been given extensive privileges, including her own parking space in the Parliament car park, without being a member.[154][155] In addition, both her sister and step-mother had recently been given jobs within various ministries.[156]
In August 2013, Fico was photographed while embracing and kissing his now-secretary Halászová, after taking her for a private dinner at a chateau in Čereňany, 160 kilometres from Bratislava.[157] The photos created another round of speculation about the true nature of their relationship, as well as whether or not he had used public funds to pay for the dinner.[158][159][160]
In 2020, Slovak daily newspaper Denník N identified Katarína Szalayová as Fico's lover. She used a luxury car worth around €40,000, even though her net monthly salary of the prosecution office employee was around €600. After leaving the prosecution office, Szalayová gained employment in the law firm of Robert Kaliňák, former deputy prime minister during Fico's cabinets and incumbent member of SMER–SD party presidium.[161]
^Terenzani-Stankova, Michaela. "Ukraine: a challenge for Slovakia". The Slovak Spectator. Petit Press. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
^Balogová, Beáta (13 January 2014). "The president's speech". The Slovak Spectator. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
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