Slovakia Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times and rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries on Wednesday, May 15, after a cabinet meeting, officials said, in an attack condemned by EU chiefs. Fico, a populist leader accused of being Kremlin-friendly, has been prime minister since last year.
Officials said late Wednesday that Fico was fighting for his life, but his deputy prime minister, Tomas Taraba, said he believed Fico would survive and told the BBC that the surgical procedure had gone well. The defense minister Robert Kalinak said the 59-year-old leader had been shot in the abdomen. Kalinak also claimed the attack was a “political assault,” and that Slovakia would “have to react on that.” Earlier on Wednesday, a statement posted on Fico’s Facebook page said that there had been “an assassination attempt on the prime minister.”
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Slovakia President Zuzana Caputova, a political rival of Fico, said in a televised statement after the shooting that, “A physical attack on the prime minister is, first of all, an attack on a person, but it is also an attack on democracy.” Caputova said that, “Any violence is unacceptable. The hateful rhetoric we’ve been witnessing in society leads to hateful actions. Please, let’s stop it.”
The suspect detained for shooting Fico is a 71-year-old writer from the center of the European nation, the interior minister said Wednesday, after media identified the man. “I think I can confirm this, yes,” Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok told reporters. The suspect’s son told Slovak news site aktuality.sk that he had “absolutely no idea what father was thinking, what he was planning, why it happened.” When asked if he felt any hatred toward Fico, the son said: “I’ll tell you this: he didn’t vote for him. That’s all I can say about it.”
International support
US President Joe Biden condemned the shooting as a “horrific act of violence.” Biden said he and First Lady Jill Biden “are praying for a swift recovery, and our thoughts are with his family and the people of Slovakia.” Writing on X, French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “Shocked by the shooting of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. I strongly condemn this attack.”
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala also called the news of the attack “shocking.” Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban expressed “deep shock” over the “heinous attack against my friend.”
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen denounced the “vile attack” and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: “Robert, my thoughts are with you in this very difficult moment.” The UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on X he was “shocked to hear this awful news.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the attack as a “heinous crime” and said he hoped Fico would recover quickly. “I know Robert Fico to be a courageous and strong-spirited man,” Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the shooting “appalling.” In a statement on X, Zelensky said, “We strongly condemn this act of violence against our neighboring partner state’s head of government. Every effort should be made to ensure that violence does not become the norm in any country, form, or sphere.” He continued, “We sincerely hope Robert Fico recovers soon and express our solidarity with the people of Slovakia.”
Pro-Russian shift
As well as his current stint as premier, Fico also headed the government in 2006-10 and 2012-18. Since he was elected last October, Fico has made a string of remarks that have soured ties between Slovakia and neighboring Ukraine.
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He has notably questioned Ukraine’s sovereignty and called for a compromise with Russia. He also sparked mass protests with controversial changes, including a media law that critics say will undermine the impartiality of public television and radio.
At a press conference following the shooting, MP Lubos Blaha from Fico’s Smer party lashed out against his critics. “You, the liberal media, and progressive politicians are to blame. Robert Fico is fighting for his life because of your hatred,” Blaha said.
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Publish date : 2024-05-15 07:00:00
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