Shooting in Broad Daylight
Shooting in broad daylight leaves Slovakia in shock as the Prime Minister is injured by gunfire and his life is in danger. Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, was injured by gunfire at the end of a government meeting in Handlová, northeast of Bratislava. He was airlifted to the hospital, and his condition was immediately declared critical, requiring surgery.
The head of the government office stated in a press release that the Prime Minister’s life is in danger. Fico underwent surgery at a hospital in Banská Bystrica because transferring him to the capital, Bratislava, would take too long. He added that the next few hours would be decisive.
According to reports, he was shot while greeting the crowd outside a cultural and social center where the government meeting was held, and the shooter was also arrested.
At this time, three or four bullets hit him, reportedly striking his arm, abdomen, and head, according to some witnesses. The attacker, a 71-year-old man originally from Levice in the south of the country, was immediately apprehended.
The motives behind this assassination attempt, which has shocked the country and cast a dark shadow over the election campaigns just weeks before the European elections in June, remain unclear.
Who is Robert Fico?
Robert Fico, 54, considered Slovakia’s Viktor Orbán, has been in office since last October when he won the election with the Social Democratic Party, a Slovak political party founded in 1999 by Robert Fico, a former member of the Democratic Left Party that united Slovak socialists after the dissolution of the Slovak Communist Party in 1990. He is pro-Russia and received the mandate from President Zuzana Čaputová to form a majority, holding the position of Prime Minister of Slovakia.
Since then, he has been a populist leader skeptical of Europe, ruling the country thanks to an alliance with the HLAS party led by Peter Pellegrini and the far-right Slovak National Party.
In a clear departure from the policy pursued by his predecessor Eduard Heger, he has shifted Bratislava towards anti-Ukrainian stances, accusing Brussels and Western allies of prolonging the conflict by supporting Kyiv against Moscow’s aggression, claiming it harms the European Union more than Russia.
His position was strengthened in April with the victory of his government ally Pellegrini in the presidential election. This has fueled fears of a deviation from the rule of law and a potential departure from the common policy of supporting Ukraine and within NATO.
Fico previously served as Slovakia’s Prime Minister for over a decade, from 2006 to 2010 and then from 2012 to 2018. He was forced to resign in March of that year following weeks of mass protests over the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová.
Unanimous Condemnation of Fico’s Assassination Attempt
The attack on the Prime Minister sparked public outrage and almost unanimous condemnation from European leaders. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, tweeted, ‘I strongly condemn the cowardly attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico.’
Such violent acts have no place in our society and weaken our most precious common good, democracy. Charles Michel, a politician and former Prime Minister of Belgium, echoed Ursula von der Leyen’s stance, as did other European leaders. Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary, added, ‘I am deeply shocked by the brutal attack on my friend, Prime Minister Robert Fico. We pray for his swift recovery and health. May God protect him and his country.’
Volodymyr Zelensky also immediately condemned the act, wishing Fico a speedy recovery and adding, ‘We strongly condemn this violent act against the head of state of our neighboring country.’
In a message on social media, he said, ‘Every effort must be made to ensure that violence does not become the norm in any country.’ Russia’s ambassador to Slovakia, Igor Bratchikov, also expressed his condemnation and called for exemplary punishment for those responsible.
A Polarized Society
What happened to the Prime Minister was an attack and a violent act that occurred amid rising tensions across Slovakia. Milan Nič, a former advisor to the Slovak Deputy Foreign Minister, told the BBC that, in his view, the country’s political system has been polarized for several years, and what happened to Fico was not an isolated incident.
Nič emphasized that, in fact, before this incident, other politicians had also been threatened, including the moderate and pro-European President Zuzana Čaputová, who decided not to run for re-election after receiving death threats and expressing her exhaustion with the country’s toxic political environment.
The outgoing President today called the attack on his political opponent a brutal and ruthless assault on democracy, adding that the police have arrested the perpetrator and will provide more information if possible. ‘Let’s not rush to judgment until then. I think the most important thing we should focus on right now is Robert Fico’s quick recovery.’
It seems to refer to comments made by Ľuboš Blaha, Deputy Speaker of Parliament, who, after learning of the attack, turned to the opposition benches and said, ‘It’s your fault.’
According to critics, Parliament is currently grappling with a controversial bill that aims to abolish the public service broadcaster Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS) and create a new, government-friendly broadcaster. As a result, a new anti-government protest was planned for tomorrow evening in Bratislava, which was canceled after the attack on the Prime Minister.
In conclusion, as we await the reasons behind this incident and the health status of Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, what is concerning is the rise of violent episodes occurring in some European countries as the European Parliament elections approach.
There is evidence that these incidents are also happening in Germany, where various politicians have been attacked in recent weeks. In an internationally tense situation with two wars at its gates, Europe must maintain its democratic space and reject any extremism.