The Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak Government announced on Thursday that a case… Prime Minister Robert Fico It stabilized during the night, but was still “very dangerous,” the day after he was shot in an attack that the authorities described as “political” in nature.
Fico (59 years old) underwent a five-hour surgery on Wednesday at Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystrica (central), to which he was transferred by helicopter, after a gunman targeted him with several bullets on Wednesday afternoon following a cabinet meeting in Handlova in central Slovakia, which sparked a wave of international condemnation.
The gunman’s motives remain unclear at this stage.
Hospital director Miriam Labonnikova confirmed that Fico is still in a “very serious” condition, as he suffers from “several injuries” and will remain in intensive care.
Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinac, who also holds the position of Defense Minister, said: “Unfortunately, the situation is still very serious because the injuries are complex.”
Kalinac said: The attack is “political,” adding: “We must respond to it accordingly.”
Who is the suspect?
Police arrested the suspected attacker, a 71-year-old man who Slovak media said was a local writer from the city of Levica.
At this stage, no information has yet been provided about his motives.
Slovak media reported that the perpetrator of the attack was a former security guard in a mall, the author of three poetry collections, and a member of the Slovak Writers Association.
The Activity.SK news website quoted the suspect’s son as saying that his father had a license for the weapon he used in the assassination attempt.
In an undated video posted on Facebook, the attacker was seen saying: “I do not agree with government policy.”
Fears of other assassinations
Analysts believe that this assassination attempt may exacerbate the “extremism” of the Slovak political class, in a country divided between a government and an elected president loyal to the Kremlin and a pro-Western camp.
Political expert Miroslav Radek told AFP: “I fear that this attack will not be the last, and that members of the opposition will also be targeted in the near future.”
On Thursday, Slovak President-elect and Fico ally Peter Pellegrini called on political parties to “suspend” their campaigns for the European elections scheduled for next June 8.
He told reporters in Bratislava: “Slovakia does not need more confrontation and mutual accusations” at this stage, calling for an end to the “vicious cycle of hatred.”
The country of 5.4 million people has witnessed political controversy and polarization in recent years, including a hotly contested presidential election last month that helped tighten Fico’s grip on power after his ally Peter Pellegrini won.
Since returning for the fourth time as prime minister last October, Fico has rapidly changed his policy in what the opposition described as a power grab that threatens the rule of law.
His government has scaled back its support for Ukraine and opened a dialogue with Russia, sought to ease sanctions for corruption, dismantled the special prosecutor’s office that deals with rampant corruption, and proposed reform of the public broadcaster despite calls to protect media freedom.
The attack on Fico left shock around the world.
US President Joe Biden condemned the shooting, considering it a “terrible act of violence,” while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the “horrific” shooting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin considered the attack a “heinous crime,” saying that former communist and Kremlin ally Robert Fico was a “brave and strong-spirited man.”
In the European Union, a number of leaders expressed their “shock,” including Frenchman Emmanuel Macron, Italian Giorgia Meloni, and Hungarian Viktor Orban, who is close to Fico.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also condemned the “heinous attack,” considering that “such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy.”