A fan of Vladimir Putin and fast cars, Robert Fico should return as prime minister of Slovakia following parliamentary elections on Saturday. FRANCE 24 takes a look back at the career of a politician who was ousted from power five years ago after a journalist was murdered for revealing government corruption, and who used populism and disinformation to rise again.
Following early parliamentary elections on Saturday September 30, the pro-Russian populist Robert Fico, 59, who has been laying low for five years, should return to his former post as prime minister of Slovakia if he can find enough allies to form a government.
With 99.98% of the ballots counted, Fico’s centre-left party, Direction-Social Democracy (Smer-SD), won 22.9% of the vote, beating the centrist Progressive Slovakia party (17.9%).
Twice elected as prime minister of this Eastern European country of 5.4 million inhabitants, Fico has come a long way after he was forced to resign in 2018 following the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée.
The double murder sparked huge anti-government protests demanding Fico’s resignation, after the murdered journalist revealed ties between the Italian mafia and the Smer-SD in an article published posthumously. Kuciak’s investigation, which focused on Maria Troskova, a former model who became Fico’s assistant, uncovered links between an Italian businessman, the Calabrian mafia and Troskova, threatening thus Fico’s inner circle.
The billionaire businessman Marian Kocner was charged in 2019 with ordering the murder, before being acquitted the following year. However, other suspects were convicted after they pleaded guilty, including the shooter, a former soldier who was given a 23-year prison sentence.
Journalists called ‘prostitutes’
At the time of the murder, Fico was already known for having a difficult relationship with the press: On more…
