The scene following the shooting of Prime Minister Robert Fico during an off-site government meeting in Handlová, Prievidza District, on 15 May 2024. (source: Sme - Jozef Jakubčo)
During the previous administration, representatives of the political parties Smer and Hlas persistently promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 suicide of former police chief Milan Lučanský, despite multiple official investigations concluding there was no foul play. Now, the current governing coalition is facing similar suspicion – this time regarding last year’s attempted assassination of Prime Minister Robert Fico.
A recent poll conducted by the NMS agency for the daily Sme found that more than one-third of Slovaks harbour doubts about whether the assassination attempt even took place.
Even more respondents expressed scepticism about the official investigation’s findings. Many were unconvinced by Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok of Hlas, who publicly defended the prime minister’s security team and their response to the attack.
The situation echoes the Lučanský case, in which the Smer party dismissed official conclusions ruling out external involvement in his death. At the time, Smer’s deputy chair, Ľuboš Blaha, without evidence, claimed Lučanský – who had been charged with corruption – was murdered. Fico backed Blaha’s statements and refused to apologise for them.
“The prosecutor only looked at the death itself, which remains very mysterious. Not all circumstances have been clarified – especially those serious injuries Lučanský had,” Fico said misleadingly in November 2022. “General Lučanský died under mysterious circumstances, and I will continue to say so.”
Such claims were part of a broader web of conspiracy theories promoted by Smer, including those related to Covid-19 and alleged coup plots.
Now, two and a half years later, 34 percent of people have significant or moderate doubts about whether the assassination attempt on Fico occurred. Surprisingly, the highest level of scepticism – nearly 65 percent – is among voters of Progressive Slovakia (PS), a liberal, pro-European opposition party. Specifically, 32.5 percent of PS voters said they had serious doubts about the attack being real, and another 32.4 percent expressed moderate doubts.
Voters of other opposition parties also questioned the event. Among supporters of Demokrati, 56.8 percent expressed some level of doubt, while 52.3 percent of SaS (Freedom and Solidarity) voters felt the same.
