Fico Makes his First Public Appearance, Calls for Defence Against Liberalism

Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) makes his first public speech since his May shooting at the commemoration of the 1,161st anniversary of the arrival of Byzantine missionaries St. Cyril and Methodius on July 5, 2024 at the Devin Castle, photo by TASR

Bratislava, July 5 (TASR) - Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) made his first public appearance since his May 15 shooting at Friday's event at the Devin Castle in Bratislava, which celebrated the 1,161st anniversary of the arrival of Byzantine missionaries St. Cyril and Methodius in erstwhile Great Moravia, and called for forming a bulwark against "senseless progressive and liberal ideologies that damage Slovakia".

The need to defend Slovakia against these liberal ideologies might necessitate the search for a consensus on a political scene, so that enough votes are garnered in Parliament to modify the Constitution, Fico said in his speech.

"All of us together must build a great bulwark against senseless progressive and liberal ideologies that spread like cancer. The ideologies that damage this country and came into existence only the day before yesterday," declared Fico.

Fico pointed out that marriage is defined in the Slovak Constitution as a union between a man and woman.

"If we will continue to be endangered by ideologies that come into existence overnight, spread like a venom and stand in stark conflict with what we have in the Slovak Constitution, maybe we'll need to seek consensus on the Slovak political scene to modify the Constitution, with a mind to reinforcing the bulwark against the liberal and progressivist ideologies even stronger," he said.

The Prime Minister noted that the Slovak society is polarized and criticised the liberal media, which, in his view, called the public holiday of St. Cyril and Methodius a relic of the past.

"Europe and Slovakia have never been so divided as they are today," he claimed.

In Fico's opinion, everyone must take a moment to reflect on what's happening in Slovakia and Europe.

He praised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for visiting Kiev and Moscow.

"I would have loved to join him, had my health condition enabled me to do so. There's never enough peace talks, peace initiatives, I repeat, there's never enough of that. So let's all make a gesture that could be the celebration of this evening and let's give a thought as to what to do about this, so that the May 15 will never occur again and tensions in society over the military conflict in Ukraine won't escalate any further," said Fico.

The event was attended by top constitutional officials as well as the head of the Slovak Conference of Bishops and Kosice Metropolitan Archbishop Bernard Bober.