Shooting in broad daylight
Slovakia’s Prime Minister, Robert Fico, was wounded in a shooting incident in the town of Handlova in the northeast of Bratislava. He was immediately airlifted to the hospital and his condition was declared critical, requiring immediate surgery.
The government office chief stated that the Prime Minister’s life was in danger and Fico underwent surgery at Banska Bystrica Hospital as transferring him to Bratislava, the capital, would take too long. The next few hours will be crucial.
Reports indicate that he was shot outside a cultural center where the government meeting was held, while greeting the crowd. The shooter was apprehended.
He was hit by three or four bullets, according to witnesses, with injuries to his arm, abdomen, and head. The attacker, a 71-year-old man from Levice in the south of the country, was immediately arrested.
The reasons 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, are still unclear.
Who is Robert Fico?
Robert Fico, a 54-year-old considered a Viktor Orbán of Slovakia, has been with the Social Democratic Party since October. The party was founded in 1999 by Robert Fico, a member of the left-wing Democratic Party, who brought together Slovak socialists after the dissolution of the Communist Party of Slovakia in 1990. He won the election with Russia’s support and received the duty and responsibility of creating a majority, taking over the position of Slovakia’s Prime Minister from Zuzana Čaputová, the President.
Since then, a populist and pessimistic leader governs this country in Europe, thanks to a coalition 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 Edward Heger, he pushed Bratislava towards anti-Ukrainian positions and accused Brussels and Western allies of prolonging the conflict with Moscow by supporting Kyiv, causing more harm to the EU than Russia.
His position was strengthened in April with the victory of the united government led by Pellegrini in the presidential elections. This has raised concerns about the rule of law and the potential deviation of this country from the common policy of supporting Ukraine and being within NATO.
Fico had been the Prime Minister of Slovakia for more than a decade, between 2006 and 2010, and then from 2012 to 2018. He resigned in March of that year after weeks of widespread protests following the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova.
Condemnation of Fico’s assassination is unanimous.
The attack on the Prime Minister caused public shock and almost unanimous condemnation from European leaders. Ursula von der Leyen, the 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 undermine our most valuable common benefit, democracy. Charles Michel, a politician and former Prime Minister of Belgium, like other European leaders, echoed Ursula von der Leyen’s position in a tweet. Viktor Orban, 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 immediate recovery and healing. May God protect him and his country.’
Immediately, Volodymyr Zelensky also condemned this act and, while wishing a speedy recovery for Fico, added, ‘We strongly condemn this violent act against the Prime Minister of our neighboring country.’
He said in a message on social media that all efforts must be made to ensure that violence does not become the norm in any country. The Russian ambassador to Slovakia, Igor Bratchikov, also expressed his condemnation and called for exemplary punishment for the perpetrators.
Society has become multipolar.
What happened to the Prime Minister was a violent attack that occurred in the midst of increasing tensions across Slovakia. Milan Nic, former advisor to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, told BBC that in my opinion, the country’s political system has become bipolar for several years, and what happened to Fico is not a separate incident.
Nic emphasized that in fact, before this incident, other politicians have also been threatened, including the pro-European President, Zuzana Caputova, who, after receiving death threats and announcing her resignation from the poisoned political atmosphere in the country, decided not to run for re-election.
The resigned president today called his attack on his political opponent a savage and ruthless attack on democracy. He added that the errant policeman has been arrested and more information will be provided if possible. Let’s not rush to judgment until then. I believe the most important thing to focus on right now is the quick recovery of Robert Fico.
It seems to refer to the remarks of L’ubomír Blaha, the Vice President of the Parliament, who, after learning about this attack, turned to the opposition benches and said, ‘It’s your fault.’
According to critics, the Parliament is currently grappling with controversial bills aiming to cancel the public service broadcaster RTVS in Slovakia and create a new government-friendly broadcaster. For this reason, a new anti-government protest scheduled for tomorrow afternoon in Bratislava was canceled after the attack on the Prime Minister.
Finally, as we await the discovery of the reasons for this incident and the health status of Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia, what is concerning is the rise in violent incidents occurring in some European countries as the European Parliament elections approach.
There is evidence that indicates that similar incidents are also happening in Germany, where various politicians have been attacked in recent weeks in a tense international situation with two wars at its doors. Europe must preserve its democratic space and reject any extremism.