Why Fico failed to "punish" his predecessors for supporting Ukraine and what this means for him
It is already clear that Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico’s promise to punish members of the previous government for transferring weapons to Ukraine will not be fulfilled. Prosecutors found no evidence of a crime in most cases.
Fico is now trying to present this defeat as a conspiracy between the prosecutor general and the opposition. However, this further reduces his chances of retaining power after the next parliamentary elections.
Read more about the Slovak prime minister’s problems in the article by Yurii Panchenko, European Pravda's editor: Fico lost to Ukraine's friends: what the prosecutor's decision on weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine will mean.
Soon after Robert Fico came to power, his government decided to open criminal proceedings against members of the previous cabinet for transferring weapons to Ukraine.
This decision was expected. While in opposition, Fico had actively threatened the government of Eduard Heger with criminal prosecution if it transferred 13 MiG-29 fighter jets and the Kub air defense system to Ukraine.
The reason, according to Fico, was that Heger’s government made this decision in early 2023 while already operating as a caretaker cabinet, which, in his view, did not have the authority to take decisions directly related to national defence.
The first signs of trouble in attempts to punish former Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď became apparent last year, when an investigator from a special group, created in November 2024 to probe the actions of the previous government, announced the closure of the case due to the absence of a crime.
However, as later became known, one episode is still under review. This no longer concerns the MiG-29 aircraft, but rather the S-300 air defence system previously transferred to Ukraine, specifically, its technical documentation.
According to investigators, in April 2022 the government handed over "classified technical information" related to the system to Ukraine’s military attaché. As a result, this step, according to prosecutor Rastislav Remeta, could be interpreted as a violation of the Slovak-Russian agreement on the mutual protection of classified information.
This accusation appears entirely absurd, especially given that no criminal offense was found in the transfer of the air defence system to Ukraine itself.
As a result, neither the opposition nor experts believe this accusation has any real prospects.
In 2025, figures close to Fico even suggested that criminal cases against his predecessors could lead to the banning of the Democrats party founded by Eduard Heger, which is currently led by Jaroslav Naď.
In recent days, the Slovak prime minister has suffered a double blow from the prosecution service.
In addition to refusing to open criminal cases over support for Ukraine, Prosecutor General Maroš Žilinka also stated that Fico’s government had failed in its fight against corruption.
In response, Robert Fico issued a statement accusing the prosecutor general of politicising his actions.
"Robert Fico is forced to present the situation as if the prosecutor general has sided with the opposition and is now acting accordingly. However, this looks strange, since the prosecutor general was appointed by the current ruling coalition itself. As a result, such hints by Fico work only against him," notes Alexander Duleba of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA).
According to him, the inability to punish members of the previous government for helping Ukraine will send a signal to pro-Russian voters.
Given that this electorate has already become the core base of Fico's Smer-SD party, such disappointment could have serious electoral consequences, including the migration of these voters to other pro-Russian political forces.
Despite the fact that on 5 February Fico survived an opposition-initiated vote of no confidence without major difficulty, and the next parliamentary elections are scheduled only for autumn 2027, falling approval ratings and a poor performance in local elections could turn the prime minister into a "lame duck" as early as this year.
The current scandals significantly increase the likelihood of such a scenario.