Slovak PM Fico would have fled to Hungary, Péter Magyar claims – here’s Fico’s remark

On 4 May 2022, Robert Fico, now Slovakia’s Prime Minister, faced a make-or-break vote in parliament. Slovak MPs were considering whether to strip the then opposition leader of his parliamentary immunity. The motion ultimately failed by a narrow margin. Yet Péter Magyar claims that, had the crucial threshold of 76 votes been reached, a Hungarian government car was standing by to spirit Robert Fico across the border to Hungary. At the time, Péter Magyar was part of Fidesz’s inner circle; his wife was serving as justice minister in Viktor Orbán’s fourth government. The allegation, if true, would cast a sharp light on the political drama of that day — and on the closeness of relations between Fico and Budapest at a moment when his own legal position appeared perilous.

Would Fico have fled to Hungary to evade accountability?

We now know that it did not happen. Of the Slovak legislature’s 150 MPs, only 74 voted to suspend Robert Fico’s parliamentary immunity — short of the required majority, despite the governing coalition’s numerical dominance and Fico’s position in opposition at the time.

According to Péter Magyar, however, Viktor Orbán was taking no chances. A Hungarian government car, he claims, was waiting on the Hungarian side of the border for Slovakia’s former prime minister, should the vote have gone against him.

Magyar insists Fico would have sought refuge in Hungary to avoid prosecution. At the time, prosecutors had accused him of forming a criminal organisation, abusing public office and breaching tax secrecy.

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Magyar peddles nonsense

Robert Fico recalls events rather differently. Speaking at a recent press conference, he said that some 100 police officers were waiting in the basement of the parliament building on the day of the vote, poised to arrest him — making any escape impossible. He dismissed the case against him as a political witch-hunt.

Péter Magyar responded in kind on social media, accusing the Slovak prime minister of lying and of parroting Fidesz propaganda. He also issued a pointed warning to Budapest: “Hands off the Hungarians of Upper Hungary.”

The Tisza government will speak out on the Beneš Decrees

The remark appears to refer to a recent amendment to Slovakia’s criminal code, passed by parliament, which threatens prison sentences for anyone questioning post-war settlement documents — including the Beneš Decrees. These measures were founded on the principle of collective guilt and led to the disenfranchisement of Hungarians and Germans after the Second World War.

In recent days, Péter Magyar and Anita Orbán, the Tisza Party’s nominee for foreign minister, have made clear that a future Tisza government would not handle Fico’s administration with kid gloves. Addressing the fallout from the criminal code amendment, they said, would be their first order of business.

By contrast, Hungary’s current government has remained conspicuously silent. It has not summoned the Slovak ambassador, though it has indicated that it would offer legal assistance to any Hungarians in Upper Hungary who might face rights violations as a result of the new law.

Our previous report in the issue:

• Magyar urges Slovak PM Fico to suspend Beneš Decrees ahead of Hungarian elections