Robert Fico

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Robert Fico (2016)
Robert Fico signature.JPG

Robert Fico [ ˈfitsɔ ] (born September 15, 1964 in Topoľčany , Czechoslovakia ) is a Slovak lawyer, politician and chairman of the Smer-SD party he founded . He was Prime Minister of Slovakia from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018 . During its first government, Slovakia joined the Schengen Agreement and the euro area .

Life and entry into politics

Fico studied from 1982 to 1986 at the Faculty of Law at the Comenius University in Bratislava , after which he completed his military service in the Czechoslovak People's Army from 1986 to 1987 . From 1987 to 1988 Fico acquired a qualification to exercise the office of judge , then from 1988 to 1992 he completed postgraduate studies at the State and Legal Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences .

Fico began his professional career in 1986 as a research assistant for criminal law at the legal institute of the Slovak Ministry of Justice, which he pursued until 1991. From 1991 to 1995 Fico served as deputy rector of the institute, from 1994 to 2000 Fico then worked as a representative of Slovakia before the European Commission for Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights .

Fico began his political career on April 14, 1987 when he joined the Czechoslovak Communist Party , of which he remained a member until 1990. From 1990 he became involved in the post-communist party of the democratic left (SDĽ), for which he first moved in 1992 as a member of the Slovak National Council. After the National Council election in Slovakia in 1994 , Fico was head of the parliamentary club of the SDĽ until 1996. When, after the parliamentary elections in 1994, the later governing parties of the Mečiar coalition in the nightly parliamentary session on 3rd / 4th On November 11th, when the most important state functions were divided among themselves, Fico was the only opposition member who did not leave the meeting in protest and discussed the future direction of the country with the parties of the Mečiar coalition and submitted proposals.

In 1999 Fico, who at that time was already vice-chairman of his party, left the SDĽ. As a justification, he cited the lack of support from his own party. In the same year the new party Smer (German direction ) founded and became its chairman. Immediately after it was founded, the party shot up to 7.8% in the polls, which would mean it would have entered the Slovak National Council if it had been voted immediately. When founding his party, Fico took advantage of the disappointment of the voters about the new government under Mikuláš Dzurinda and with critical statements on the governing parties as well as on the former Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar and his HZDS he managed to win a large group of supporters. Within a year, the party received 23% in polls, with Fico's personal popularity ratings as the now most popular Slovak politician even surpassing those numbers.

In contrast to the polls, the result for Fico's Smer party in the National Council election in 2002 was significantly worse at 13.5%, which, according to Slovakia expert Tim Haughton , is due to Fico's increasingly hateful attacks on Prime Minister Dzurinda, an openness to it possible coalition partners and the campaign of a financially strong NGO against Fico. From 2002 to 2006 Fico acted in the National Council as chairman of the Smer parliamentary club.

Since the beginning of the 2010s media have reported about a connection between Fico and Jana Halászová, the secretary at the Smer-SD headquarters. It was viewed critically that he possibly granted her financial and political privileges. In connection with the murder of Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend, the “counselor” Ficos Maria Trsokova moved into the public eye.

First term as Prime Minister (2006-2010)

Robert Fico with the Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković during his state visit to Belgrade in October 2008

In June 2006, early elections were held in Slovakia . They ended with a victory for Robert Fico and his left-wing populist party Smer-SD , which a week after the elections concluded a coalition agreement with the nationalist SNS of Ján Slota and the severely weakened HZDS of ex-Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar ( see also the Robert Fico I government ). The new coalition was described by critical media as a cabinet of horrors and a catastrophe , among other things , because on the one hand it was feared that the participation of the two ruling parties HZDS and SNS in the coalition could endanger the EU and NATO course of the country others because the left-wing populist Smer-SD did not want to continue the neoliberal policies of the Dzurinda government. In the 2009 presidential elections, the incumbent President Ivan Gašparovič, supported by the Fico government, was able to clearly prevail over the opposition Iveta Radičová .

Opposition leader (2010–2012)

In the parliamentary elections in 2010 , the Smer-SD was even confirmed as the strongest party by gaining votes, but the governing coalition lost its majority. Fico then took over the office of Vice President of the Slovak Parliament.

Second term as Prime Minister (2012-2016)

Fico during a 2014 press conference.

In the parliamentary elections in March 2012, the Smer-SD achieved a share of the vote of 44.4 percent, had 83 members in the Slovak National Council with 150 seats and formed the government alone, four ministers are independent.

Fico ran as a presidential candidate for the 2014 presidential election in Slovakia . Above all, Fico promised the voters stability in the difficult times ahead as well as continuous cooperation between the three highest constitutional holders in the country for the benefit of all citizens and social peace. He was supported by all three former presidents of Slovakia as well as the confederation of trade unions in the country. In addition, the French head of state François Hollande , the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz , and the Czech President Miloš Zeman publicly expressed their support for Fico. As expected, Fico won the first ballot, but was defeated in the runoff to the non-party candidate Andrej Kiska , who was supported by all opposition parties .

Third term as Prime Minister (2016-2018)

Meeting of the heads of government of the Visegrád group in Prague 2015: Robert Fico, Beata Szydło , Bohuslav Sobotka and Viktor Orbán .

In the 2016 parliamentary election , Ficos Smer-SD took first place again, but received only 28.3% of the votes cast (after 44.4% in the previous election). On March 23, 2016, Fico's party formed a left-right coalition with the nationalist SNS , the liberal Slovak-Hungarian party Most-Híd and the conservative # Sieť .

On April 14, 2016, Fico was admitted to the National Institute for Cardiovascular Disease after feeling pressure on his chest during his regular running exercise. On April 22nd, Fico had a heart operation. At the request of the family, the hospital did not inform about Fico's condition, according to the Slovak media, Fico was operated on by doctors for double bypass surgery. On May 1, 2016, Fico was released from the hospital.

In the second half of 2016, Slovakia held the rotation of the EU Council Presidency under Fico . Slovakia formulated the Brexit settlement and a solution to the refugee and migration crisis as the goals of its Council Presidency .

The murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée in February 2018 caused a stir, also internationally. This sparked the largest civil society protests in Slovakia since the end of the Eastern Bloc and led to a crisis in the country that has persisted since 2018 . Kuciak had recently researched connections between the Italian mafia and the highest Slovak government circles. On March 12, 2018, Robert Kaliňák resigned from his posts as Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister. In the days before, tens of thousands of citizens had demonstrated in Bratislava and other cities and also called for Fico's resignation. On March 19, 2018, Fico had to face a vote of no confidence in parliament .

On March 14, 2018, he surprisingly offered to resign; However, one of the conditions for this is that his party Smer retain the right to propose a successor. The next day, the President of Slovakia accepted Fico's resignation and assigned his previous deputy, Peter Pellegrini, to form a government.

Political positions

Foreign policy

Robert Fico with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev 2010

In terms of foreign policy, under Fico's first government from 2006 to 2010, Slovakia took a course largely independent of the USA and strengthened relations with various non-EU countries such as Russia, Serbia , Belarus , Libya , Cuba , Venezuela and China . Slovakia rejected the independence of Kosovo as well as the missile defense shield required by the USA in the Czech Republic and Poland, during the Caucasus War in 2008 Fico condemned Georgian aggression and took sides with Russia. In 2007 the Slovak government withdrew all Slovak troops from Iraq, but in return increased its military presence in Afghanistan on the condition that Slovak soldiers would not be available for combat missions.

Under Fico's second government from 2012–2016, Slovakia officially supported the EU's common position during the Crimean crisis and the war in Ukraine from 2014, but the Slovak government repeatedly criticized the economic sanctions imposed on Russia and at times threatened a veto together with the Czech government . Prime Minister Fico described the sanctions as "useless and counterproductive" , but at the same time referred to the solidarity support given to Ukraine by Slovakia in reversing the gas transport.

Domestic politics

Fico-critical caricature.

In Slovakia, Fico is anchored in the “social-national context” and was able to win votes from both the Slovak National Party and the HZDS Vladimír Mečiars, through the otherwise moderate center-left image but also from the social democratic parties SDĽ and SOP. But Fico's Smer party not only borrowed from the Mečiar period in terms of content. Critics accused the party of showing organizational and financial continuity to the social-national epoch of the 1990s. The non-governmental organization ODM, which is critical of Fico, warned in a post campaign in 2002 against the election of Fico as the “second Mečiar”.

Domestically there were a number of patriotic measures, e.g. E.g. the erection of busts of important historical Slovak personalities in the entrance area of ​​the parliament building (including the nationalist politician Andrej Hlinka , who was rehabilitated by law in 2008 ), the unveiling of an equestrian statue of the Moravian prince Svatopluk I in front of the Bratislava Castle , which was also renovated by the Fico government, and the Installation of two statues in honor of the Slav apostles Cyril and Method in the southern Slovak border town of Komárno .

The media policy of the new government, which took a hostile attitude towards journalists throughout Fico's term in office, presented itself as conflictual. The press law of the Fico government of 2008 caused a stir. The most controversial point of the law was the right of reply by people who feel offended by published information. According to the new law, the Slovak newspapers should be obliged to print such counter notifications. In addition, the Ministry of Culture was given the power to impose fines if newspapers advocate “socially harmful behavior” or stir up politically motivated hatred. Despite oppositional and international criticism, the Smer-SNS-HZDS coalition disregarded these concerns and passed the new regulation on April 9, 2008. In 2009, Slovakia slipped 37 in the list of countries for press freedom of Reporters Without Borders Places in 44th place.

Economic policy

In March 2012, Fico confessed to statism and spoke out in favor of a “strong state” in economic policy.

In terms of economic policy, the first Fico government was able to record Slovakia's acceptance of the Schengen Agreement on December 21, 2007 and the introduction of the euro on January 1, 2009 as a success. In 2007 Slovakia recorded the highest economic growth in the whole of the EU with 10.4%. However, due to the global financial crisis, GDP per capita shrank by 4.7% in 2009. The flat tax introduced in 2004 was largely retained by the Fico government, but several privatization projects were halted, the government blocked gas price increases and extended workers' rights.

During his second government, Fico's cabinet set itself the goal of reducing Slovakia's new debt, which was 4.6% in 2011, to 3% by the end of 2013 in accordance with the Maastricht criteria of the EU. As a basis for this, the flat tax introduced in 2004 under Prime Minister Dzurinda was abolished. Another innovation in economic policy was the creation of the “Council for Development and Solidarity” based on social partnership.

Migration and Refugee Policy

Since the beginning of the refugee crisis in Europe in 2015 , Fico has positioned itself as a sharp opponent of the refugee quotas proposed by the EU Commission. In September 2015, in response to a speech given by European Commissioner Jean-Claude Juncker in the European Parliament , Fico said :

“I say no to the mandatory quotas [...] I don't even want to wake up in this country and have 50,000 people here that we don't know about. I don't want to be responsible for a possible terrorist attack just because we underestimated something. "

With regard to the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13, 2015 in Paris, he warned against the formation of a "united Muslim community in Slovakia" :

“Multiculturalism is a fiction. If you let migrants in, you could face such problems. "

After the terrorist attacks in Paris, Fico also announced that he wanted to monitor every Muslim within Slovakia, which, according to the German Turkish News , had met with criticism from the country's Islamic community and several media. After international protests, Fico temporarily moved away from this position, but again refused to accept more Muslim refugees after the attacks in Cologne on New Year's Eve 2015/16 and called for a special EU summit on this topic. The integration commissioner of the federal government, Aydan Özoğuz , called this attitude incomprehensible and populist, since “an entire group is being placed under general suspicion ”.

In response to criticism also from the Muslim community in Slovakia, Fico stated:

"I see no reason, not even human rights, not even humanism, not even selfish reasons, such as cheap labor, for us to ignore or hide the huge security risks that this wave of migration brings with it."

When asked whether Slovakia would continue to refuse binding quotas even after the formation of Fico's third government during the Slovak EU Council Presidency, Fico told the Slovak news agency TASR on May 25, 2016:

“Islam has no place in Slovakia. We're a country that somehow came into being. Let's not make total idiots of ourselves. If someone here wants to tell me that Slovakia wants to be multicultural, that everyone will do what they want here, that traditions will be changed here and that Slovakia will change, then it is against the cornerstone of this country. I think it is the duty of politicians to speak very clearly and openly about these things. I said that I don't want a closed Muslim community to emerge in Slovakia and I'll say it again. I don't want tens of thousands of Muslims here who are gradually getting their way. I have spoken about this several times with the Maltese Prime Minister, who told me that the problem is not that they are coming, but that they are changing the character of the country. And we do not want to change the traditions of the country, which is built on the kyrillo-methodical traditions. Something that has existed here for centuries. So let's be honest and tell ourselves that it can't go that way. "

- Robert Fico, May 25, 2016

In June 2016, the Party of European Socialists (PES) threatened to expel Fico's Smer party because of his statements on refugees and migrants .

Web links

Commons : Robert Fico  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Robert Fico  - Quotes (Slovak)

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b c d e Data on Robert Fico's curriculum vitae on osobnosti.sk , accessed on May 10, 2016, 7:54 pm.
  2. ↑ Hannes Hofbauer / David X. Noack: Slovakia: Der mühsame Weg nach Westen , Vienna 2012, p. 111. ISBN 978-3-85371-349-5
  3. ^ Hofbauer: Slovakia , p. 175.
  4. ^ Hofbauer: Slovakia , p. 176; Radoslav Štefančík: Christian Democratic Parties in Slovakia. University of Saints Cyril and Method in Trnava, Trnava 2008, p. 30
  5. ^ Hofbauer: Slovakia , p. 177.
  6. ↑ Premiér Fico a jeho sekretárka Janka sa Příjemné bavili aj v Chorvatsku. Retrieved March 4, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Hofbauer: Slovakia, pp. 180-182.
  8. ↑ Gasparovic remains President of Slovakia. In: Handelsblatt , April 5, 2009.
  9. ↑ http://www.nrsr.sk/web/Default.aspx?sid=poslanci/poslanec&PoslanecID=40&CisObdobia=5
  10. ↑ Priebežné neoficiálne výsledky volieb do NR SR ( Memento of March 10, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), nrsr2012.statistics.sk, accessed on March 11, 2012 at 02:20 am.
  11. ^ Presidential election in Slovakia: Fico versus Kiska. ( Memento of March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: www.tt.com, on March 24, 2014, accessed on March 28, 2014 at 04:45.
  12. ↑ Duel for the presidency. In: Wiener Zeitung , March 27, 2014.
  13. ↑ Fico podal demisiu, Kiska ho vzápätí vymenoval za premiéra . In: ta3.com, March 23, 2016, accessed at 8:39 pm.
  14. ^ Robert Fico in the hospital: media suspect a heart attack. In: diepresse.com, April 14, 2016, accessed April 18, 2016, 7:30 pm; Premier Robert Fico byl propuštěn z nemocnice . In: novinky.cz, May 1, 2016, accessed May 1, 2016, 3:02 p.m.
  15. ↑ Robert Fico - An EU critic at the head of the Union . In: noz.de, June 30, 2016.
  16. ↑ a b FAZ.net: Prime Minister Fico has to face a vote of no confidence
  17. ↑ FAZ..net: Slovak Prime Minister Fico offers resignation
  18. ↑ sueddeutsche.de: Slovak Prime Minister Fico resigns
  19. ^ Hofbauer: Slovakia, p. 279.
  20. ↑ Hofbauer: Slovakia, p. 191.
  21. ^ Hofbauer: Slovakia, p. 192.
  22. ↑ Slovak Prime Minister under fire after criticism of Russia sanctions. In: derstandard.at, August 12, 2014, accessed December 8, 2015, 1:21 pm; Slovakia of the Baltic states that they prefer Christian refugees and an EU and the Czech Republic say "Njet" to further Russia sanctions . ( Memento from September 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In :wirtschaftsblatt.at, September 6, 2014, accessed on December 8, 2015, 1.30 p.m.
  23. ^ Hofbauer: Slovakia, p. 177.
  24. ^ Hofbauer: Slovakia, p. 177f.
  25. ↑ Hofbauer: Slovakia, pp. 186–187.
  26. ^ Hofbauer: Slovakia , p. 197.
  27. ↑ Country Report ROG 2009, accessed December 8, 2015, 7:51 p.m.
  28. ↑ Fico o zvyšovaní daní: Je to možné až od januára 2013 . In: cas.sk, March 18, 2012, accessed December 27, 2016, 3:06 am. [Slovak]
  29. ^ Hofbauer: Slovakia, p. 208.
  30. ↑ Austrian Chamber of Commerce Country Profile Slovakia: - ( Memento from November 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) , as of February 2010
  31. ^ Hofbauer: Slovakia , p. 202.
  32. ^ Hofbauer: Slovakia , p. 204.
  33. ^ Hofbauer: Slovakia , p. 205.
  34. ^ Hofbauer: Slovakia, p. 217.
  35. ^ Hofbauer: Slovakia, p. 219.
  36. ↑ [ Fico: Kvótam hovorím never. Nechcem niesť zodpovednosť za teroristický útok. ] In: pravda.sk, September 9, 2015, accessed April 18, 2016, 7:00 p.m.
  37. ↑ Slovakia: Just no economic refugees. In: zeit.de, February 11, 2016, accessed on May 6, 2016, 10:56 pm.
  38. ↑ Slovak Prime Minister Fico wants to “monitor all Muslims”. In: German Turkish News . November 16, 2015, accessed January 24, 2016 .
  39. ↑ Slovakia calls for a special summit because of attacks in Cologne. In: Spiegel Online . January 8, 2016, accessed January 24, 2016 .
  40. ↑ Ficová spoveď k utečencom: Keď ide o bezpečnosť, nepoznám ľudské práva. In: aktuellne.atlas.sk, November 22, 2016, accessed on April 18, 2016, 7:10 pm.
  41. ↑ Ficov prvý rozhovor: Bojovali sme s mimovládnym sektorom, ktorý bol často dotovaný zo zahraničia. In: dennikn.sk, May 25, 2016, accessed on May 27, 2016, 6:26 pm.
  42. ^ Warning shot for Fico . In: wienerzeitung.at, June 17, 2016, accessed June 18, 2016, 12:02 pm.
personal data
SURNAME Fico, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Slovak lawyer and Prime Minister, member of the National Council
DATE OF BIRTH September 15, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Topoľčany