Prime Minister Robert Fico at the Radošinka cooperative harvest near Veľké Ripňany. (source: Sme - Marko Erd)
Nine years after brushing off journalists with the now-infamous line, “Don’t bother me, we’re harvesting,” Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) returned to the fields this week – and once again faced questions, protests and political theatre.
Fico arrived on Tuesday afternoon at a farm near Veľké Ripňany, close to his native Topoľčany, dressed casually in a beige T-shirt, jeans and brown leather loafers. “I come to check the harvest every year, not just before elections,” he told reporters. “I arrived last year too, hobbling with my cane.” In July 2024, he appeared in a field near Voderady in the Trnava Region – one of his first public appearances since the 15 May assassination attempt.
Surrounded by top-end agricultural machinery – including John Deere tractors and Claas combines – the event had all the trappings of a well-managed photo opportunity. Women in traditional folk dress greeted the prime minister with bread and salt, and the obligatory photograph among the crops was quickly arranged.
But the pastoral setting masked growing political tensions. Activists from Šurany campaigning against a planned battery factory appeared near the field and were kept at a distance by police. Elsewhere, opposition leader Igor Matovič and his Slovensko party supporters held up a banner accusing the government of misappropriating €216 million in agricultural subsidies.
At first, Fico played along, joking that while he was not an expert, “I’m a village boy – I can still tell barley from wheat.” But when protesters moved closer and raised their voices, organisers responded by turning up the volume on Agriculture Minister Richard Takáč’s microphone to drown them out.
The mood soured further when a journalist from the news website 360 tried to ask about political matters. “Learn the difference between barley and wheat first,” Fico snapped, before abruptly ending the press conference.
Security then diverted his motorcade away from the main road, avoiding Matovič’s group entirely. Protesters, many left hoarse from chanting, insisted they had no connection to the opposition leader. “We don’t know him,” one said. “We just happened to be here too.”
The episode underscores Fico’s discomfort with criticism in public and the mounting scrutiny his government faces – even in a wheat field.
