On May 15, 2024, in the small city of Handlova, the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (*1964) was shot four times by the 71-year-old Juraj Chintula. According to local media reports, the suspect is a part time writer, poet and former security agent at a supermarket, therefore legally in possession of a weapon. He had managed to fire five bullets from short range of which four hit the target, one reportedly Robert Fico’s stomach.
According to early statements by Slovak authorities, the shooter seems to have been politically motivated. Juraj Chintula is reportedly not part of any extremist group, but rather a lone wolf unhappy with Robert Fico’s anti-Ukrainian positions.
Under the previous, pro-Ukrainian, pro-European and anti-Putin government, Slovakia had been the first country to send fighter jets to Ukraine. In September 2023, during an electoral campaign rally in the city of Banovce nad Bebravou, Robert Fico had stated that, if elected, he would not send weapons or ammunition to Ukraine. He went as far as to say: “We are a peaceful country. We will not send a single round to Ukraine.”
The conservative government ousted by Fico and his coalition partners was at times chaotic, preoccupied with infighting. At the same time, during the election campaign, many false allegations were circulating. Was the disinformation campaign the fruit of Slovak media or had Putin an important hand in this?
Robert Fico had started as a social-democrat, instrumental in offering economic growth to Slovakia. Gradually, he adopted positions of the populist left and right, spreading conspiracy theories and Putin-friendly propaganda.
Robert Fico assumed the job of prime minister four times: 2006-2010, 2012-2016, 2016-2018 (German article) and again after the September 2023 Slovak parliamentary election. Appointed as prime minister by the Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová on October 25, 2024 he formed a Putin-friendly coalition government which includes his left-wing, populist-nationalist Smer party.
During the electoral campaign, Robert Fico’s Smer party deputy Ľuboš Blaha talked about an alleged “euro-american occupation” of Slovakia and, referring to LGBT-friendly policies of the previous government, a Slovak “fascism in rainbow colors”.
Robert Fico is inspired by his Hungarian friend, the long time, right-wing populist Prime Minister Victor Orban. After regaining power in October 2023, the Slovak politician tried to follow in the footsteps of his Hungarian mentor and take control of the public radio and TV media. In addition, he tried to push through a “justice reform”, scrapping the Special Prosecutor’s Office, trying to limit the investigation (statute of limitations) and prosecution of high-level corruption cases, lowering penalties for financial crimes. Furthermore, the reforms demanded NGOs to register as “foreign agents” if they received more than €5000/year from abroad. All this led to protests. Robert Fico attacked the press as “anti-Slovak whores”.
In his new, fourth cabinet, Robert Fico appointed the Russia-friendly Juraj Blanár as minister of foreign affairs. One of his coalition partners is Voice – Social Democracy (Hlas). Hlas is a left-wing, nationalist, Putin-friendly party created by Peter Pellegrini, a long time Smer politician and former prime minister. After scandals rocking Smer, notably the 2018 assassination of the investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, as well as a fight for the Smer party leadership, Peter Pellegrini left Robert Fico’s Smer to create his own party in June 2020.
In Robert Fico’s fourth cabinet, the former Smer member and now Hlas politician Denisa Saková has become Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy. In October 2023, after the election, she suggested that Ukraine should just make territorial concessions to Putin and the war with Russia would be over.
The other Fico coalition partner is the russophile, extreme-right and nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS). The SNS party leader, the lawyer Andrej Danko, suggested that the country’s “key companies” should be nationalized and that Slovakia should not welcome refugees. In January 2019, Andrej Danko’s university found cases of plagiarism on 63 of the 72 pages of his PhD thesis. He had almost entirely copied his thesis.
The equally Putin-friendly President of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini, is the above mentioned former Smer politician who created his own party Hlas after a rift with Robert Fico. Since he had vowed not to serve in a cabinet under Robert Fico, Peter Pellegrini found an arrangement with the Smer leader which allowed him to become the new coalition’s presidential candidate. In April 2024, after a dirty campagin, Peter Pellegrini was elected President of Slovakia.
In short, over 20 years, Robert Fico has created a poisonous environment in which lies, conspiracy theories, corruption, murder and Putin-friendly positions could thrive. The irony of the May 15, 2024 assassination attempt is that Robert Fico has become the victim a political climate he had largely contributed to create.
Nevertheless, Slovakia remains a democracy. Robert Fico’s government is the result of the expression of Slovak voters. Despite some shady policies, the prime minister is not a dictator (yet). In democracies, people can express their political wishes at the ballot box. Bullets are not part of the political deal.
There are also media reports that Juraj Chintula has ties to the pro-Russian paramilitary group Slovenski Branci. This would not make sense since Robert Fico and his government are pro-Russian – unless you wanted to create a civil war environment which would allow the government to take extreme measures. Howver, local media reports suggest that Juraj Chintula was unhappy with Robert Fico and his government as well as the election of the pro-Russian Peter Pellegrini as president.
After the politicians Erdogan in Turkey, Netanyahu in Israel and Robert Fico in Slovakia (temporarily) lost power, they were ready to do anything to regain power – and to stay in power.
Robert Fico is more “pragmatic” or rather opportunistic than other politicians. He did not oppose sanctions against Russia, but insisted that they should not hit Slovakia more than Russia – Slovakia is heavily relying on gaz, oil and uranium from Russia. During the 2023 legislative election campaign, Robert Fico falsely accused the ruling parties of wanting to send Slovak ground troops to fight in Ukraine. In March 2023, a Globsec poll found that 51% of Slovaks believed either the West or Ukraine to be “primarily responsible” for Putin’s escalation of the war against Ukraine.
In 2024, together with Hungary’s Prime Minister Orban and France’s President Macron (some never learn?!), Slovakia’s Fico was one of the few to send a representative to Putin’s inauguration ceremony after another “election” farce in Russia. The result? Once again Putin will think that he can divide the West, that the European Union is not united.
Members of Fico’s coalition government and their parties, e.g. Smer’s Ľuboš Blaha, were quick to accuse the opposition of being responible for the assassination attempt by creating a toxic environment. The Slovak Interior Minister Estok told reporters outside Fico’s hospital that Slovakia was “on the edge of a civil war”. President-elect Peter Pellegrini and President Zuzana Čaputová – victim of heavy attacks on her and her family, which led her not to seek reelection –, offered the counter-program. Together, the two politicians representing the two opposing political camps, stepped in front of the cameras and delivered a message of Slovak unity. President Zuzana Čaputová said: “Any violence is unacceptable. The hateful rhetoric we’ve been witnessing in society leads to hateful actions. Please, let’s stop it.”
The oppositional Progressive Slovakia leader Michal Simecka called on all politicians “to refrain from any expressions and steps which could contribute to further increasing the tension.”
Affaire à suivre…
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Photograph of the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Photo copyright European Commission (Lukasz Kobus) via Wikimedia.
Article added on May 17, 2024 at 11:16 German time. Correction on May 18, 2024 at 11:04 German time: Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová, were killed (not his wife).
