Jet-setter lifestyle from Bratislava to Moscow to Hanoi
08 January 2025
Slovakia's prime minister Robert Fico went missing and was found – in Vietnam! Do not worry; he kept in touch with his voters via videos on social media. However, there was no official information on his whereabouts for 14 days following his highly controversial visit to Moscow on 22 December, where he met with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Slovak investigative outlet Dennik N was the first to uncover his location as the Madame Butterfly suite in Capella Hanoi hotel. A reader recognised golden curtains and an antique phone, motivating an OSINT investigation of the suite from Fico's videos. This room costs €5,740/night, while the PM's monthly salary is €11,200. How he paid for it? Noone knows yet.
In one of the videos posted from his expensive suite in Hanoi, Fico criticised Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy for halting the gas transit through Ukraine on 1 January 2025. He also threatened to stop the electricity supply for Ukraine as a "reciprocal measure." Zelenskiy responded by accusing Slovakia of opening a "second energy front.". Poland, on the other hand, is ready to increase their energy production to compensate for Slovakia if Fico's threats come true.
 | Tamara Kanuchova The official reasons for Fico's meeting with ICC-wanted Putin were to improve mutual relations and discuss the transit of Russian gas and the options for "peace negotiations" between Ukraine and Russia held in Slovakia. As an immediate response, a Slovak civic organisation, Peace for Ukraine, organised a protest a day after the pre-Christmas meeting in Moscow and urged the Slovak prosecutor to investigate Fico for the long-term legitimisation of Putin's regime. The opposition and the civil society in Slovakia have been calling for transparency on both the visit to Moscow and the nature of the PM's time in Vietnam. |
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