Fico Launches Campaign with Profanity-Laced Victory Promise at May Day Rally

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico delivered a profanity-laden speech at a May Day rally in Bánovce nad Bebravou, vowing his party would win upcoming elections "even if they were damned." The Smer-SD leader referenced his vulgar victory cry from October 1, 2023, when he celebrated his party's parliamentary election win by shouting "We won, this is how it's done, damn it!" from the party headquarters balcony before singing the national anthem with supporters. At Friday's rally on the town square, Fico returned to this triumphant rhetoric as his ruling social-democratic party marked International Workers' Day. The event was marked by emotional speeches and profanity as Fico positioned his party for future electoral contests, drawing on the momentum from Smer-SD's victory in the 2023 parliamentary elections that returned him to power as prime minister.