Slovak opposition demands accounting of PM Robert Fico's private-jet flights to Croatia, put at about €120,000
Why It MattersScrutiny of who pays for a head of government's private-jet travel shows how charter use by public officials can draw political and legal attention to a segment usually kept out of view.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Katarína Szalayová, a lawyer reported to be his partner, flew from Bratislava to Split, Croatia, on a small private plane on Thursday, October 29, ahead of the long All Saints' Day weekend. The seaside town of Ražanj, one of Fico's favorite vacation spots, is near Split. Opposition MPs have counted at least eight such flights by Fico over the past four months and estimate their cost at about €120,000. According to flight trackers, the plane in question flew between Bratislava and Croatia at least five times in the previous three months.
Alojz Hlina of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party published photos from the airport and noted that Fico has publicly defended the "traditional family"; Fico has officially been married to Svitlana Ficova for almost 40 years, and no divorce has been publicly reported. Hlina's party colleague Martina Bayo Holečková demanded that Fico show the flight ticket. Fico's monthly salary is reported at about €10,400 in 2026.
In a video response on October 31, Fico, 62, said he had worked for four decades, headed the government for many years and earned well. He cited more than €250,000 received from media under court rulings in honor-and-reputation cases, a figure he has mentioned regularly since 2012. He said he would keep flying privately and buy a vacation home if he wanted, adding that nobody had ever given him anything for free. On November 2, opposition MPs said they would appeal to the Prosecutor General's Office; SaS leader Branislav Gröhling asked it to establish how much the trips cost and who paid for them.
Szalayová's name first appeared alongside Fico's in June 2020, when reporters from Plus 7 dní saw them arrive together at the Bratislava DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, owned by Juraj Široký. At the time she was an intern at the Bratislava Regional Prosecutor's Office, earning about €600 a month, and used a Volkswagen Arteon worth about €50,000 that was registered to her mother. The Prosecutor General's Office accepted that explanation and did not require her to declare the car.
