Fico plans Belgrade campaign appearance despite illness

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico plans to speak on Saturday at a Serbian Progressive Party rally at the Belgrade Arena, according to reports published on 3 October, despite saying that he had been fighting a virosis throughout the week and needed several hours of rest.¹²³

A campaign appearance in Belgrade

Aleksandar Vučić announced that Fico would be the special European guest at the event organised by the Serbian Progressive Party, or SNS. The ruling party is due to present its programme before early parliamentary elections scheduled for 25 October. Vučić has said he expects SNS to secure a majority on its own.¹²³

Vučić described Fico as a friend of Serbia and said the Slovak leader consistently respected Serbia’s territorial integrity and regarded Kosovo as part of Serbia. The accounts of the planned appearance did not report that Fico had yet arrived in Belgrade or delivered his speech.¹²³

Illness disrupts Fico’s schedule

Fico said he had been dealing with a virosis all week and needed to stop working for several hours. He therefore excused himself from celebrations marking the 82nd anniversary of the Karpato-Dukla operation at the Memorial of the Czechoslovak Army Corps at Dukla.¹²³

The reports nevertheless said that Fico still planned to travel to the Serbian capital and address the SNS gathering. Hospodárske noviny framed his appearance as uncertain because of the illness, while TASR and Aktuality.sk focused on the contrast between his absence from the Dukla event and his planned trip to Serbia.¹²³

Vučić seeks the premiership

Vučić announced that he was leaving the Serbian presidency, a post he had held since May 2017, to contest the early parliamentary elections as a candidate for prime minister. His speech about stepping down was broadcast by the Serbian public broadcaster RTS.¹²³

He also announced extensive changes to the judiciary and prosecution service. The announcements form part of the SNS campaign before the 25 October vote, at which the party will seek the independent majority that Vučić has said he expects it to win.¹²³

Protests form the backdrop

The election campaign is taking place during a protest movement opposed to the Serbian government and corruption. According to the three reports, the demonstrations began as student protests after a shelter at a railway station in Novi Sad collapsed in November 2024, killing 16 people, and subsequently developed into a broader movement.¹²³

The movement had been continuing for almost two years by the time of the 3 October reports. Against that background, the SNS rally is intended to set out the ruling party’s programme ahead of the early election, with Fico scheduled to appear as its visiting European speaker.¹²³