A few weeks ago Robert Fico was still riding the wave of “Slovakia, the pro-European island in Central Europe”, hoping that it would carry him safely into the core of the EU.
That now feels like years ago. One week ago, still shocked by the news of the murder of two young people, one of them an investigative reporter, we did not know where the whole situation would take the country. But none of us expected to witness the prime minister exchange “pro-European island” for another phrase, “Soros”.
That is a meme from a different, darker world, a world thatFico entered as he left the room without letting journalists ask any questions this afternoon following a brief statement which he had used to accuse others of manipulating the tragedy – and launched a major political attack on the person he clearly sees as his main political rival: President Andrej Kiska.