NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly talks with Dalibor Rohác of the American Enterprise Institute in regards to the try to assassinate Slovakian PM Robert Fico and the broader political panorama in Europe.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Robert Fico, the prime minister of Slovakia, is in severe however secure situation at present, the day after an assassination try noticed him shot as he was shaking palms with supporters. Authorities say the suspect acted alone in a politically motivated assault. Whereas Slovakia’s prime minister is a polarizing determine in his nation and round Europe, that has been true for the final couple of a long time. It’s much more so now due to his stance on Ukraine.
Nicely, to listen to extra about this man, we’re joined by Dalibor Rohac, senior fellow on the American Enterprise Institute. Hello there. Welcome.
DALIBOR ROHAC: Mary Louise, thanks for having me.
KELLY: Inform me extra in regards to the man on the heart of this. Robert Fico – he got here to energy final October, however, to make use of an American expression, this isn’t his first rodeo. He has served up to now as Slovakia’s prime minister, going again years. Simply how central a determine is he in Slovakian politics?
ROHAC: So Robert Fico’s at the moment serving his fourth time period as prime minister, and he is been very a lot on the heart of Slovak politics for no less than the previous 20 years. So he rose to prominence within the late Nineties, began his political celebration, which was modeled initially as a form of populist model of the Third Approach, New Labour, social democracy – principally lambasting the pro-market, neoliberal reforms of the period. And, over time, it took on a distinctly nationalist and anti-American tinge as effectively. However the core of it was actually the concept of a giant, sturdy authorities defending the common, working-class Slovaks towards the depredations of globalization, European Union, what have you ever.
KELLY: And I simply described him as a polarizing determine. Inform me a little bit bit extra about why.
ROHAC: He’s a polarizing determine as a result of he, I suppose like Donald Trump, likes to play it to the form of base instincts of his viewers, whether or not it is fears that individuals have about immigration from Muslim-majority international locations or the warfare in Ukraine, the place he was presenting himself because the chief who would shield Slovakia from being dragged right into a warfare towards Russia.
I feel he was very efficient at form of exploiting fears and in addition at winding up his political opponents in a approach that basically happy his political base. So he is anyone who actually elicits very sturdy feelings. Individuals both love him or hate him. It’s arduous to search out anyone who would not have an opinion about Robert Fico in Slovakia.
KELLY: Hmm. That is all sounding so very acquainted to Individuals – the comparability you simply made with Donald Trump. It appears like Robert Fico is a populist chief who favors nearer ties with Russia and who may be very divisive within the nation’s politics.
ROHAC: I feel that’s truthful. The anti-American dimension of him is one thing that is been very constant. I imply, he principally, as a younger man, joined the Communist Get together. And Slovakia has lengthy had this ingrained mistrust of the West and of the USA, which you would not discover actually elsewhere within the area – not even in Hungary or actually not within the Czech Republic – and he has performed to these sentiments as effectively.
KELLY: So it is a huge query, however what would possibly the story of Robert Fico inform us about broader themes or the path that Europe as a complete is headed?
ROHAC: I feel the essential factor is that though it’s, indirectly, a really parochial Slovak story, it’s also a narrative of one thing that may occur wherever the place feelings run excessive, the place the general public is split. If something, political polarization by these metrics in the USA is far stronger than it’s in Slovakia. And the concept anyone may be pushed over the sting and have recourse to violence shouldn’t be unthinkable, I am afraid to say.
After which the associated query is clearly how political establishments can reply to such a state of affairs ought to it materialize, and that is very a lot an open query within the Slovak context. I hope that the adults within the room on each side of the aisle get collectively and assist to deliver the temperature down, however it’s removed from a assured final result.
KELLY: Dalibor Rohac of the American Enterprise Institute, the place he research Central and Jap European politics and economics, thanks.
ROHAC: Thanks.
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