From left: Defence Committee chair Richard Glück, Deputy Speaker Tibor Gašpar and Government Office head Juraj Gedra, all from Smer, at a press conference following an emergency Security Council meeting in Bratislava on Thursday, 15 May 2025. (source: TASR - Pavel Neubauer)
As Slovakia marks one year since the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Robert Fico, his party, Smer, is using the anniversary not only to call for an end to political hatred – but also to launch a fresh offensive against the opposition.
At the centre of the controversy is Peter Laťák, a grassroots member of the centre-right Demokrati party, who appeared in a video filmed at an opposition protest last week. Wearing traditional folk costume and draped in a Ukrainian flag, Laťák declared: “The last nail in Fico’s coffin is in. It’s no longer a question of if, but when he goes down.”
Smer officials – led by MP Tibor Gašpar – have repeatedly circulated the video in recent days, accusing Demokrati of inciting extremism. Although police investigated the footage and found no grounds for prosecution, Gašpar described Laťák’s ceremonial shepherd’s axe as a “cold weapon” and implied it posed a threat.
Laťák, a former local mayor, told police that his remarks were metaphorical, referring to Fico’s political future rather than his life. He said the axe was a traditional accessory and was never raised or used in a threatening manner.
According to Gašpar, Laťák’s presence posed a risk at Thursday’s commemorative event in Handlová, where the activist had reportedly planned to attend. Laťák dismissed the suggestion as absurd, according to the Sme daily.
On Tuesday, Smer officials escalated their rhetoric, referring to Demokrati members as “Cintula’s people” – a reference to Juraj Cintula, the gunman who shot Fico last May.
Demokrati strongly rejected the accusations, saying their party had nothing to do with threats against the prime minister. The opposition party also denied that the man in the video had called for Fico’s physical elimination.
The attack on Laťák comes at a moment of deepening cooperation between Demokrati — a party that could play a key role in the next parliamentary elections — and other opposition forces, including Progressive Slovakia, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), and the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH).
