Fico skips night shift appearance, sends May Day wishes by video

Each year on 1 May, Robert Fico has sought to project solidarity with Slovakia’s working class. As prime minister in 2017, he donned protective gear for a night shift at the IAC Group automotive plant in Lozorno, near Malacky, where he helped weld strips for car doors. He even took home a door as a souvenir.

Last year, the ritual continued. On Labour Day 2024, days before surviving an assassination attempt, Fico worked a night shift at ZKW Slovakia, a major producer of premium lighting systems for vehicles. The factory, near his hometown of Topoľčany, employs more than 3,000 people and is the second-largest employer in the Nitra Region.

“Tonight, I worked on the assembly line and spoke with the people here,” Fico said at the time. “If I were wearing a hat, I would take it off to them. This is backbreaking work.”

Prime Minister Robert Fico during a night shift at IAC Group Slovakia in the Lozorno Automotive Industrial Park. (source: TASR - Martin Baumann)

ZKW is currently facing painful cuts. In February 2025, the local news site My Topoľčany reported that 420 employees would lose their jobs this year. The company blamed pressures from Europe’s faltering car industry, surging energy costs, inflation and rising fixed expenses. The opposition Progressive Slovakia seized on the layoffs to attack Fico’s government.

“Fico botched fiscal consolidation. He burdened businesses with higher taxes, levies and a transaction tax. He has damaged the economy, and bears responsibility for every lost job,” PS leader Michal Šimečka said in a video on social media.

While opposition figures made a video outside ZKW’s gates, Fico marked this year’s Labour Day more quietly. He posted a video message on social media, calling Labour Day “very important”.  He had planned to work a night shift from 30 April at the Penam bakery in Nitra – part of Czech businessman and former prime minister Andrej Babiš’s Agrofert empire – but cancelled without explanation just hours before clocking in. On 30 April, Fico’s government held a meeting in Malá Lehota, central Slovakia, where it approved funding for projects worth €1.6 million.

Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks at a press conference after completing a night shift at the ZKW Slovakia plant in Krušovce, Topoľčany district, early on Wednesday, 1 May 2024. (source: TASR - Henrich Mišovič)

Only months earlier, during an October visit to a bakery in Bratislava to mark World Bread Day, Fico had promised lower bread prices through a reduced VAT rate on selected food products and pledged to improve pay for bakers. 

The cancellation was not isolated. Earlier this week, on Monday evening, Fico abruptly called off a Tuesday lecture at the Oxford Union, leaving organisers without explanation. Officially, he prioritised talks with foreign investors to advance plans for a new nuclear facility in Jaslovské Bohunice. A day earlier, he had hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Bratislava.

This pattern of sudden withdrawals has become familiar. On 11 April, which was Friday, Fico pulled out of a live TV debate on TA3. Former Czech president Miloš Zeman, who appeared on the show, told viewers that Fico had fallen ill. The government had earlier attributed his absence to work obligations. 

From left, Agriculture Minister Richard Takáč (Smer) and Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) visit the First Bratislava Bakery on 16 October 2024 in Bratislava, marking World Bread Day and the signing of a cooperation memorandum. (source: TASR - Jakub Kotian)

In a Facebook video later, Fico admitted his injuries had become problematic. “The wounds caused me trouble over the past three days,” he said. “I had to cancel part of my programme, especially on Friday. I apologise to everyone affected.”

Days before, on 7 April, the prime minister also cancelled an appearance at a state housing forum in Nitra, again offering no reason.

Fico, known for his reluctance to discuss his health, underwent triple bypass surgery in 2016, according to Slovak media. After last year’s assassination attempt, he reportedly endured multiple operations. Speaking in parliament on 10 April, Fico confirmed more surgery was ahead. “You would not want to see how I look,” he told MPs, pointing at Progressive Slovakia lawmakers and accusing them of betting on his demise.

In January, he skipped the World Economic Forum in Davos despite being listed as a speaker.

His wavering schedule has become a political issue. Andrej Danko, head of coalition partner SNS (Slovak National Party), has openly questioned Fico’s capacity to lead. “Everyone must know when it is time to go,” Danko told TA3 earlier in the week, stressing that health and age matter in politics. “I feel strong. I have survived health struggles. I will not politically die alongside Robert Fico. Enough is enough.”