Media reported that the alleged shooter was a 71-year-old writer. (File)
Banská Bystrica:
Authorities on Thursday charged an alleged gunman with attempting to assassinate Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, saying the shooting was triggered by the election victory of a Fico ally last month.
The prime minister’s condition had stabilized but was still “very serious” a day after the violence that raised deep concerns of an escalation in the politically polarized nation.
“This is a lone wolf whose actions were accelerated after the presidential elections as he was dissatisfied with the result,” said Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok.
Slovakia’s president-elect Peter Pellegrini, the Fico ally who won the April vote, called for calm on Thursday, urging political parties to halt campaigning for EU parliament elections in June.
The leader of the largest opposition party, the centrist Progressive Slovakia, announced that his group had already done so.
Slovak politics has been divided for years between pro-European camps and nationalist-leaning camps, with the latest elections heavily influenced by disinformation and verbal attacks on social media.
Pellegrini, a Fico ally who will take office in June, said Slovakia should avoid “further clashes” in a joint statement with outgoing president Zuzana Caputova.
The two politicians represent rival political camps, but Caputova said they wanted to “send a signal of understanding” by calling for an end to the “vicious circle of hate.”
Surgeons spent hours in the operating room, fighting to save the 59-year-old leader after the shooting, which took place on Wednesday afternoon as Fico spoke to the public after a meeting.
Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak said doctors had stabilized Fico’s condition, “but unfortunately, his condition is still very serious because the injuries are complicated.”
Footage of events shortly after the shooting showed security officers grabbing the injured Fico from the ground and pushing him into a black car. Other officers handcuffed a man on the sidewalk nearby.
Fico, whose party won the general election last September, is a four-time prime minister and a veteran politician accused of influencing his country’s foreign policy in favor of the Kremlin.
Outside the hospital, shock mixed with outrage as residents of Banska Bystrica condemned the attack.
“I am certainly afraid that such attacks will be repeated,” said Nina Stevulova, an 18-year-old student.
“There is no need to do such things. Feel free to throw a tomato or an egg at him or scold him by saying, ‘You are a thief or a murderer’,” Karol Reichl, a former professional driver, told AFP .
“But don’t come with a gun and shoot,” the 69-year-old said.
Unprecedented attack
Media reported that the alleged shooter was a 71-year-old writer.
The alleged suspect’s son told Slovak news site aktuality.sk that he had “absolutely no idea what his father was thinking, what he was planning, why this happened.”
Political analyst Miroslav Radek said the attack risks causing “further radicalization of individuals and politicians in Slovakia”.
“I fear this attack was not the last,” Radek told AFP.
The shooting occurred just weeks before European Parliament elections in June, in which far-right parties are expected to make gains.
In the city of Levice in central Slovakia, where the alleged shooter came from, engineer Jaroslav Pirozak told AFP he was sad for Fico.
“But at the same time, he is the one who spreads hatred and divides society, he is the one who sows hatred,” said the 34-year-old.
Weapons of Ukraine
In addition to his current term as prime minister, Fico headed the government in 2006-10 and 2012-18.
He was forced to resign in 2018 after the murder of an investigative journalist exposed high-level corruption and stirred anti-government sentiment.
But he came back again.
Since returning to office last October, Fico has made a series of comments that have soured ties between Slovakia and neighboring Ukraine, after he questioned Ukraine’s sovereignty.
After being elected, Slovakia stopped sending weapons to Ukraine, invaded by Russia in 2022.
He has also sparked mass protests with controversial changes, including a media law that critics say will undermine the impartiality of public broadcasters.
At a press conference after the shooting, deputy Lubos Blaha, from Fico’s party, attacked the prime minister’s critics.
“You, the liberal media and progressive politicians are to blame. Robert Fico is fighting for his life because of his hate,” Blaha said.
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