Robert Fico

Robert Fico
Fico in April 2024
Prime Minister of Slovakia
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 October 2023
President	Zuzana Čaputová Peter Pellegrini (elect)
Deputy	See list Robert Kaliňák Peter Kmec Denisa Saková Tomáš Taraba
Preceded by	Ľudovít Ódor
In office 4 April 2012 – 22 March 2018
President	Ivan Gašparovič Andrej Kiska
Deputy	See list Robert Kaliňák Peter Kažimír Miroslav Lajčák Ľubomír Vážny Peter Pellegrini Lucia Žitňanská Gabriela Matečná
Preceded by	Iveta Radičová
Succeeded by	Peter Pellegrini
In office 4 July 2006 – 8 July 2010
President	Ivan Gašparovič
Deputy	See list Dušan Čaplovič Robert Kaliňák Ján Mikolaj Štefan Harabin Viera Petríková
Preceded by	Mikuláš Dzurinda
Succeeded by	Iveta Radičová
Minister of Justice
Acting 26 March 2009 – 3 July 2009
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Štefan Harabin
Succeeded by	Viera Petríková
Deputy Speaker of the National Council
In office 9 July 2010 – 4 April 2012 Serving with Béla Bugár, Milan Hort and Pavol Hrušovský
Speaker	Richard Sulík Pavol Hrušovský
Member of the National Council
In office 22 March 2018 – 25 October 2023
In office 8 July 2010 – 4 April 2012
In office 23 June 1992 – 4 July 2006
Chairman of Direction – Social Democracy
In office 8 November 1999 – 15 May 2024
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	TBD
Personal details
Born	(1964-09-15)15 September 1964 Topoľčany, Czechoslovakia
Political party	Direction – Social Democracy
Other political affiliations	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (1986–1990) Party of the Democratic Left (1990–1999)
Spouse	Svetlana Svobodová ​ (m. 1986)​
Children	1
Alma mater	Comenius University (JUDr.) Slovak Academy of Sciences (CSc.)
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Robert Fico (Slovak: [ˈrɔbert ˈfitsɔ]; 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 Direction – Social Democracy (Smer–SD) party in 1999 and has led that party since its start. Fico holds a record as the longest-serving prime minister in the country's history, having served for over 10 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.

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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3][4]

During the 2023 parliamentary election, Fico vowed to end military support for Slovakia's neighbor Ukraine, which was being invaded by Russia.^[5][6] His party Smer won 22.95% of the vote and 42 seats, becoming the largest party.^[7] 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,^[8] moved to take greater control of the media, and abolished the Special Prosecutor's Office that dealt with corruption.^[9] These moves sparked mass protests.^[10]

On 15 May 2024, Fico was hospitalized after an assassination attempt. Following initial reports of his "life-threatening" condition,^[11][12] he underwent emergency surgery and is expected to survive.^[13][14]