# Robert Fico Slovakia's longest-serving prime minister, who returned to power in 2023 at the head of a national-populist coalition and has steered the country on an Orbán-style illiberal course: attacks on NGOs and independent media, a contested overhaul of the public broadcaster and criminal code, and a pro-Moscow foreign policy that has included halting military aid to Ukraine. He survived an assassination attempt in May 2024. Though his Smer–SD party is nominally "social democratic," its nationalism, social conservatism, and authoritarian governance place it on the illiberal right for this vault's purposes. His principal opponent is [[Michal Šimečka]]'s pro-EU Progressive Slovakia, which leads many 2025–2026 polls. ## Related - [[International Democratic Opposition Hub]] - [[Michal Šimečka]]