Could the government fall because of Robert Fico’s trip to Putin? A coalition MP expressed his dissatisfaction. The opposition wants to take advantage of this

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1. Robert Fico committed treason by meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. These harsh words were spoken today by the chairman of the strongest opposition movement Progressive Slovakia, Michal Šimečka. At a press conference, he criticized the Slovak prime minister for running after “foreign dictators” instead of solving problems, thereby tearing Slovakia away from its allies in the European Union and NATO. Robert Fico’s trip to Moscow may even threaten his government. Progressive Slovakia and the Freedom and Solidarity party are considering calling a meeting in parliament to vote no confidence in Robert Fico’s cabinet. Just a few months ago, this would have been a useless opposition effort that the coalition with 79 MPs would have swept off the table. Today, such a vote could – under certain circumstances – mean the end of the government cabinet.

   Coalition MP Criticizes Robert Fico

   At a press conference, Šimečka emphasized that Robert Fico did not accomplish anything on his trip to Russia to meet with Vladimir Putin. “He chose the wrong path and he himself failed on it. As he wrote on social media after the meeting with Vladimir Putin, they only discussed various issues,” Šimečka continued, according to whom even coalition members and MPs may not have known about his trip. This was also confirmed by coalition MP Samuel Migaľ from Hlas. “I am sad that I have to write this, but today’s step by the Prime Minister, in the current situation, I consider an imaginary slap in the face to Slovak diplomacy and Slovak foreign policy,” Migaľ wrote on his Facebook page. The MP is the only coalition MP to have publicly criticized Robert Fico for traveling to Russia at all. “A self-confident Slovakia knows which side it stands on. A country that values ​​freedom and supports its allies does not bow to a regime that undermines the security of all of Europe,” he added. Migaľ is among the four rebel MPs from Hlas who blocked some coalition laws at a recent parliamentary session and subsequently expressed their dissatisfaction with the functioning of the government and the coalition. This is precisely what could break Robert Fico’s neck in January when he votes on a vote of no confidence in the government. “The Freedom and Solidarity Party considers Robert Fico’s meeting with Vladimir Putin to be treason. That is why it will propose to its opposition colleagues to jointly consider convening an extraordinary meeting with a single point on the agenda, namely a vote of no confidence in the government of Robert Fico,” SaS wrote to the media. Michal Šimečka also supported this effort, saying that they would talk about it.

   The vote could be tense

   If the opposition were to call an extraordinary session in January or February, the vote on a vote of no confidence in the government could be tense. The coalition currently has only the smallest possible majority of 76 members of parliament. The reason is the conflict between three members around Rudolf Huliak and the chairman of the SNS, Andrej Danko. If these members and Samuel Migal voted for a vote of no confidence, the government could fall. A vote of no confidence in parliament requires 76 votes of members of parliament. Currently, the opposition has 71 members of parliament. If Samuel Migal and three members of the National Coalition were to join them, the balance of power in the National Council would be 75-75 and the fall of the government would be a matter of one vote. At the same time, the position of other dissatisfied MPs from Hlas – Ján Ferenčák, Radomír Šalitroš and Roman Malatinec – is also questionable. However, the three MPs from the National Coalition are not bothered by Robert Fico’s trip to Vladimir Putin. On their website, they shared the status of their MP Pavel Ľupták, in which they supported Fico on his trip. “The meeting with Russian President Putin shows that the prime minister is both a human and a political figure,” he wrote. At the same time, Rudolf Huliak’s MPs have been repeating since the beginning of their rebellion that they do not want the fall of the government and support Robert Fico’s government. The only obstacles to them are Andrej Danko, the leadership of the Ministry of the Environment and the alleged poor distribution of government posts. How did Šimeček criticize Fico today?

   According to Šimeček, if Fico was concerned about the transit of natural gas to Slovakia, then he should have negotiated with Ukraine. “If the prime minister wanted to do something for the people of Slovakia, he should have gone to Kiev. He was supposed to negotiate with the Ukrainian side, but instead he insulted the Ukrainian president and now he has returned from Moscow empty-handed,” the PS leader continued at the press conference. Robert Fico criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for refusing the transit of Russian natural gas to Slovakia. At the same time, since taking office as Prime Minister, Fico has not visited the Ukrainian capital Kiev. He only meets with Ukrainian officials at the Slovak-Ukrainian border. According to Ivan Korčok, Fico is not going to Kiev because he is ashamed to look Zelensky in the eye. “After the Ukrainians had to hear that there is no war in Kiev. That the truth is in the middle, when we saw the massacre in Bucha,” Korčok added.

2. This coalition is at the brink of collapse already. They’re only tied together by common interests, i.e. corruption and protectionism.

3. Btw guys.

   There is currently a straight up riot all over the political circle.

   There are a few deputies from the coalition who also disagree with this shitshow and absolute disregard for slovak national interests.

   There will most likely be a vote of no confidence soon.

   Edit: On the other hand, Slovakia might be entering an era of political instability with none of the parties having upper hand. Basically a fucking Italy v2 at that point.

4. Thanks for that, certainly under the radar stuff.

5. But the crucial coalition party called “Hlas” will do nothing anyway. Their leader has the same opinion as Fico and he is the same national traitor as him.

6. I doubt it will: populistic parties seem to always care about power first and foremost.

7. Once they fall, arrest them for treason.
   If that’s even feasable.

8. If they were fine with being bribed with cheap Russian gas before, that’s not the reason it will fall. The fall will be because Ukraine stops Russian gas transit in January. If the basis of a friendship is bribery, when the bribes stop…

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10. I highly doubt it. None of the three coalition parties would benefit from the elections. And it will be better for the opposition to wait, because they expect the economic situation to worsen and voters’ dissatisfaction with the current government to grow.

11. All these pro-russian scumbags like Yanukovych, Assad, Fico, Orban should be together in that rat hole

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