Who is Robert Fico?: Prime Minister of Slovakia, serving his third term since October 2023. He leads the SMER-SD party and has become the EU's most openly pro-Russia voice, visiting Putin in Moscow in January 2025.
Why is Fico blocking EU support for Ukraine?: Fico declared an oil supply emergency after the Druzhba pipeline shut down, blaming Ukraine. He threatened to withdraw support for Ukraine's EU accession and halted electricity transfers, using energy dependency as political leverage.Source: event
Was Robert Fico shot?: Yes. Fico was shot five times outside a government event in Handlova on 15 May 2024 and survived after emergency surgery. He returned to office and has since intensified his pro-Russia positioning.
Did Fico visit Putin in Moscow?: Yes, in January 2025. He was the first sitting EU head of government to meet Putin since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Background

Robert Fico has served as Slovakia's Prime Minister three times (2006-2010, 2012-2018, and since October 2023). He leads SMER-SD, a party that has drifted from centre-left social democracy toward nationalist, pro-Moscow populism. He survived an assassination attempt in May 2024, when he was shot five times in Handlova. He visited Vladimir Putin in Moscow in January 2025, the first EU head of government to do so since the 2022 invasion.

Fico declared a national oil supply emergency after the Druzhba pipeline shut down, threatening to withdraw Slovakia's support for Ukraine's EU accession and halting emergency electricity transfers to Kyiv . Alongside Viktor Orban, he is blocking EU summit conclusions on sanctions and rearmament .

Fico's use of energy dependency as political leverage has made him the most openly disruptive voice within the European Union on Ukraine policy. His bloc with Orban turns two isolated dissents into a blocking minority, but the pipeline dispute has tested whether Brussels can maintain consensus when a member state actively contradicts the Commission's factual account.

Source Material

Robert Fico — Wikipedia Robert Fico — Office of the Government of the Slovak Republic Robert Fico: Slovakia's pro-Russia prime minister who survived assassination Slovakia's Fico visits Putin in Moscow — Reuters

How the World Sees Them

Russia

Moscow has long cultivated Fico as a sympathetic voice within EU institutions, useful for diluting sanctions and blocking aid consensus. The Druzhba shutdown gave Fico a domestic rationale to escalate pressure on Kyiv in ways that align with Russian interests.

Hungary

Orban and Fico coordinate frequently, forming a two-state bloc inside the EU capable of slowing Ukraine-related decisions on sanctions and rearmament. Both depend on Druzhba oil, giving the alignment a material economic base beyond ideological affinity with Moscow.

Ukraine

Kyiv regards Fico as the most hostile EU leader, the only one to visit Putin in Moscow, vote against military aid, and threaten EU accession. The Druzhba dispute hardened the rupture: Fico denied Russian drone responsibility that the EU Commission accepted.

European Union

Brussels tolerated Fico's obstruction through 2024, but the Druzhba emergency and diesel export restrictions risk triggering internal market review. EU officials accepting Ukraine's account of the drone strike while Fico denied it illustrates declining factual consensus.