Fico Faces Backlash Over Inaction After Attack on Slovaks in Serbia
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is under intense scrutiny from opposition leaders following his indifference towards an assault on a group of Slovaks residing in Serbia, reports 24brussels. The incident occurred this month in Bački Petrovac, where a photo exhibition highlighting anti-government protests was vandalized, escalating into physical confrontations instigated by supporters of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
The exhibition was part of the Slovak National Festival and aimed to showcase the ongoing struggle against the Serbian government. Opposition leader Michal Šimečka, of the Progressive Slovakia party, visited Bački Petrovac and accused Fico’s government of neglecting the minority rights of Slovaks abroad. “The Slovaks in Serbia feel completely abandoned, left at the mercy of local hooligans and thugs. No one helps them, no one from our government has stood up for them, summoned the Serbian ambassador, nothing,” he expressed in a Facebook post, urging immediate action from Fico and Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár.
At a press conference, Fico dismissed the criticism, stating that the violence was an internal matter of Serbia. He accused Šimečka of attempting to manipulate the situation to incite unrest in Slovakia. “An internal matter, which is purely a sovereign issue of Serbia, has become a perfect opportunity for our opposition politicians to, on one hand, support the Serbian opposition and, at the same time, try to import this ‘Maidanization’ we are already seeing in Serbia into Slovakia,” Fico contended.
Moreover, he insisted that he was unaware of any violations of minority rights in Serbia and directed his ire towards the media, claiming they harbor animosity towards sovereign governments like those in Serbia or Slovakia. This incident occurs amidst ongoing anti-government protests in Serbia, which began in response to a tragic architectural failure last November resulting in the deaths of 16 people, morphing into the largest protest movement in the country’s contemporary history.
