European Socialists Expel Slovak PM’s Party
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Photo Credit: Robert Fico, X
By EurActiv
By Zuzana Gabrizova
(EurActiv) — Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he was “proud” after his party was officially expelled from the Party of European Socialists on Thursday. The decision, adopted unanimously at the PES congress in Amsterdam, ends Smer’s 20-year affiliation with Europe’s centre-left political family.
The move, first reported by Euractiv,was met with applause at the old stock exchange in Amsterdam, where the PES held its annual – and crucial – congress. It marks the culmination of years of mounting tensions between Smer and PES, particularly over Fico’s growing alignment with nationalist and pro-Russian positions.
Smer had already been suspended in 2023 following Fico’s return to power.
In response, Fico accused PES of intolerance toward his government’s social conservatism. “If the reason for Smer’s termination is my participation in the celebrations of Victory over Fascism and the constitutional definition of a man and a woman, then I am proud of this expulsion,” he wrote on social media.
Juraj Gedra, head of the Government Office and one of Fico’s closest allies, also welcomed the decision on social media, where he wrote that his party was finally free. He called the end of PES membership “our victory and their shame”.
While PES did not publish a formal list of reasons, Secretary General Giacomo Filibeck stated from the stage that Smer had repeatedly taken positions “deeply contradicting the values and principles on which our political family stands”.
Fico’s party is widely seen as having crossed red lines through its rhetoric on Ukraine, attacks on media freedom and attempts to weaken judicial independence.
Anticipating expulsion, Fico instructed Smer’s MEPs to seek a new political home in the European Parliament. “We have an offer from Patriots for Europe, which I prefer,” Smer MEP Monika Beňová already told the Slovak press.
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