Slovak opposition piles pressure on Fico over Putin ties and Vietnam hotel visit

Slovakia’s opposition parties plan to call a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government due to his pro-Moscow leanings, they announced in a press conference Tuesday.

“Robert Fico has left Slovakia. Instead of being in our homeland and addressing the problems that people are facing, he is flying around the world, kowtowing to dictators, enjoying luxury somewhere in Vietnam, insulting our neighbors and partners, and resigned from governing of our country,” said Michal Šimečka, chairman of top opposition party Progressive Slovakia.

Fico made headlines over a surprise visit to Moscow last month, where he met with President Vladimir Putin in a final attempt to secure cheap Russian gas for Slovakia after Ukraine ended a transit deal with Gazprom. That has turned into a personal feud with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Back home, Fico came under fire from the Slovak press and the opposition for spending time in a luxury hotel in Vietnam, where a single night’s stay costs more than €5,000, while Slovak citizens face health care and cost-of-living crises.

Fico denied the media reports and said he only used the hotel for an official meeting, which he backed up with a confirmation from the hotel.

The escalation of the opposition’s move to oust Fico comes a day after he signaled a possible snap election if his coalition partners — the hard-right Slovak National Party (SNS) and social-democratic Hlas (Voice) — fail to break an impasse in the country’s parliament. The coalition has a razor-thin majority of 76 out of 150 seats, against 71 for the opposition parties. Three MPs are currently independent.

Michal Vašečka, a political scientist at the Bratislava Policy Institute, told POLITICO that a vote of no-confidence could go either way.

“It is a fact even Robert Fico himself is hesitating whether he is able to win the majority. If he hadn’t sent the signals, this initiative probably wouldn’t have happened … It is a moment of emancipation of the opposition,” said Vašečka, referring to the unprecedented sight of all the opposition parties uniting behind the initiative.

Even Fico’s allies have been uneasy over his dealings with Putin, with four Hlas MPs distancing themselves from his trip to Moscow, announcing they will go to Kyiv, and blocking some coalition proposals. Back in October, a crisis was set off by three SNS MPs who rebelled and quit their caucus over internal disputes.