Roberto Fico, 59, has played a key role in Slovak politics since independence in 1993 and has served as prime minister longer than any other leader.
The country gained independence after the so-called “Velvet Revolution”, a series of popular non-violent protests against the Communists in 1989 in what was then Czechoslovakia.
Mr. Fico, a former member of the Communist Party during its days in power, founded the Smer party in the late 1990s and began the first of his three terms as prime minister in 2006, serving four years before switching to the Democratic Party after his coalition. Join the opposition party. Slovakia is a landlocked country with a population of approximately 5 million.
The Smer party originally belonged to the political left, but has increasingly embraced right-wing views on immigration and cultural issues, and is now in power as part of a coalition government. International attention to Fico’s leadership in recent years has focused on his relationships with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Slovakia’s southern neighbor.
Fico returned to power in 2012, but mass demonstrations followed the murders of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova in 2018 Resigned as prime minister in July. The protests, which shocked the country, were the largest since the Velvet Revolution. Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of the government and new elections.
Slovakia tops an independent assessment of press freedom, but protesters are also seeking deeper changes in the country Mr Fico oversees.
He returned to power in an election last fall, forming a coalition government after winning about 23% of the vote and opposing sanctions imposed on Russia after it began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ammunition should be shipped to Ukraine.
In a country where pro-Russian sentiment has historically been high, the stance worried EU leaders in Brussels, who expressed concern that Slovakia could form a pro-Russian alliance with Mr Orban and possibly Italian leader Giorgio Meloni. . will hinder EU support for Ukraine. At the time, it was also seen as a sign of a clear erosion of the pro-Ukrainian bloc that had formed in Europe after the invasion.
Compared with the United States, Britain and other countries, Slovakia’s military contribution to Ukraine is negligible. But last year it became one of several EU countries on Ukraine’s border to block its grain imports, fearing it would harm Slovak farmers.
In April, Peter Pellegrini, an ally of Mr. Fico’s, won the vote to become Slovakia’s president. The stance was largely ceremonial, but analysts said the victory strengthened the grip of Russia-friendly political forces in Central Europe, given Pellegrini’s opposition to military and financial aid to Ukraine.
