Who is Robert Fico? 'Anti-American', 'pro-Russian' Slovakia PM badly injured in 'assassination attempt'
Robert Fico, the Slovakia's Prime Minister, was reportedly recuperating from life-threatening injuries after he was shot multiple times in an "assassination attempt", as claimed by nation's government officials and condemned by European leaders.
Anti-American Stance
Slovakia's government is led by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, whose leftist Smer party won a general election in September and took power for the fourth time last October and has turned the country's foreign policy towards more pro-Russian views and anti-American sentiment, as per AP and Reuters reports.
59-year-old Fico during a three-decade career has skillfully weaved between pro-European mainstream and nationalistic anti-Brussels and anti-American positions, while showing a willingness to change course depending on public opinion or changed political realities, as per a Reuters report.
Russia-Ukraine War
Fico embraced more extreme positions over the past four years that include strident criticisms of western allies, pledges to stop military support for Kyiv, opposition to sanctions on Russia and threats to veto any future NATO membership invite for Ukraine.
His coalition halted Slovak official shipments of weapons for Ukraine and he has spoken about what he called western influence in the war which only led to Slavic nations killing each other.
His campaign call of «Not a single round» for Ukraine appealed to voters in the nation of 5.5 million where only a minority in the NATO
