Rescue workers took Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to a hospital in the central Slovakian city of Banská Bystrica after being shot on Wednesday.
Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP
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Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP
Rescue workers took Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to a hospital in the central Slovakian city of Banská Bystrica after being shot on Wednesday.
Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP
Banská Bystrica, Slovakia – Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times and seriously wounded on Wednesday, but his deputy prime minister said he was confident Fico would survive.
The prime minister was greeting supporters at an event when the assassination attempt occurred, which shocked the small country and echoed across Europe just weeks before the election.
“I think in the end he will survive,” Tomas Taraba told the BBC. He added, “She is not in a life-threatening condition at this time.”
Doctors fought for Feeko’s life for several hours after the 59-year-old pro-Russian leader was hit in the stomach, Defense Minister Robert Kalina told reporters at the hospital where Feeko was being treated.
Government officials said five shots were fired outside a cultural center in the town of Handlova, about 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital. Fico was shot while attending a meeting of his government in the town of 16,000, which was once a center of coal mining.
Interior Minister Mateusz Sutaj Estok, briefing reporters alongside the defense minister, said a suspect was in custody and a preliminary investigation found a “clear political motivation” behind the assassination attempt.
Fico’s pro-Russian, anti-American message
Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond, but his return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American message has stoked even greater concerns among fellow EU members that he is pushing his country out of line with the Western mainstream. Will take you further. ,
Beginning his fourth term as prime minister, his government halted arms supplies to Ukraine, and critics worry that he is threatening Slovakia – a country of 5.4 million that belongs to NATO – over his pro-West. Will inspire you to leave the course and follow in the footsteps of Hungary. Under populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Thousands of people have repeatedly rallied in the capital and across Slovakia to protest Fico’s policies.
This attack took place before the European Parliament elections
A message posted on Feco’s Facebook account said he was taken to a hospital in Banská Bystrica, 29 kilometers (17 mi) from Handlova, because it would take too long to reach the capital, Bratislava.
The attack comes as political campaigning intensifies three weeks before elections across Europe to elect MPs to the European Parliament. Concern is growing that populists and nationalists like Fico could make gains in the 27-member bloc.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, shakes hands with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on August 25, 2016. Fico returned to power in Slovakia last year, having previously served as prime minister twice.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, shakes hands with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on August 25, 2016. Fico returned to power in Slovakia last year, having previously served as prime minister twice.
Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
But politics as usual were put aside as the nation faced the shock of the attempt on Fico’s life.
“A physical attack on the prime minister is, first of all, an attack on a person, but it is also an attack on democracy,” outgoing President Zuzana Caputova, Fico’s political rival, said in a televised statement. “Any violence is unacceptable. The hateful rhetoric we are seeing in society leads to hateful actions. Please, let’s stop it.”
Shock reactions in Slovakia and around the world
Fico’s ally, newly elected President Peter Pellegrini, called the assassination attempt “an unprecedented threat to Slovak democracy.” If we express other political opinions with pistols in intersections instead of in polling booths, we are jeopardizing everything we have built together. “31 years of Slovak sovereignty.”
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks to people before a cabinet meeting in the town of Handlova, Slovakia on Wednesday.
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Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks to people before a cabinet meeting in the town of Handlova, Slovakia on Wednesday.
Radovan Stoklasa/AP
Recent elections that brought Fico and his allies to power have underlined deep social divisions, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, Slovakia’s neighbor to the east.
Gábor Czimár, a political journalist at the Slovakian news outlet Ujszo.com, said the results showed that “Slovak society has been strongly divided into two camps” – one that is friendly towards Russia and the other that is hostile to the EU and the West. Emphasizes strong relationships with.
“At the same time, I couldn’t imagine that it would lead to physical violence,” Cziemer said.
Slovak Interior Minister Estok told reporters outside the hospital that the country was “on the brink of civil war” due to political tensions.
“Such hateful comments are being made on social networks these days, so please stop it immediately,” he said.
US President Joe Biden said he is concerned. “We condemn this appalling act of violence,” they said in a statement.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg posted on the social media platform X that he was “shocked and horrified” by the attempt on Fico’s life. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it a “despicable attack”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the violence against the neighboring country’s head of government.
“Every effort must be made to ensure that violence does not become the norm in any country, form or region,” he said.
Political opponents forgot their differences
Slovakia’s parliament was adjourned until further notice. The main opposition parties, Progressive Slovakia and Freedom and Solidarity, canceled a planned protest against a controversial government plan to overhaul public broadcasting, which they say would give the government complete control over public radio and television. Will get control.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks during a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, on Tuesday, Jan. 16.
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Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks during a press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, on Tuesday, Jan. 16.
Danes Erdos/AP
Progressive Slovakia leader Michal Simeka called on all politicians to “refrain from any expressions and steps that could contribute to a further increase in tensions.”
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala wished the Prime Minister a speedy recovery. “We cannot tolerate violence, there is no place for it in society.”
The Czech Republic and Slovakia formed Czechoslovakia until 1992.
