Slovakia’s Deputy PM and Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (left) and Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (right) deliver joint press statements at the government headquarters in Bratislava, Slovakia, on May 16, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The Slovak Interior Minister said on May 16 that a “lone wolf” has been charged in the shooting that seriously wounded Prime Minister Robert Fico and prompted soul-searching among leaders in the deeply divided society.

Mr. Fico was in serious but stable condition on May 16, a hospital official said, after the populist leader was hit multiple times in an attempt on his life that shook the small country and reverberated across the continent weeks before European elections.

The attempted assassination has shocked the small central European nation, with many blaming the attack in part on extreme political polarization that has divided the country.

Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said on May 15 that an initial investigation found “a clear political motivation” behind the attack on Mr. Fico while he was attending a government meeting in a former coal mining town. However, he said on May 16 that the suspect charged was a lone wolf who “did not belong to any political groups.”

The Minister did not specify what the motivation was. Mr. Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond, and his return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American message led to even greater worries among fellow European Union members that he would abandon his country’s pro-Western course.

The attempt on Mr. Fico’s life came at a time of high division in Slovakia, as thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and around the country to protest his policies. It also comes just ahead of June elections for the European Parliament.

Slovakia’s outgoing and next Presidents — political rivals — appeared together in an appeal for Slovaks to overcome their increasingly tense political differences for the good of the country.

Outgoing President Zuzana Caputova, an opponent of Mr. Fico, said on May 16 that the heads of the country’s political parties would meet in an effort to bring calm, saying the attack was a reflection of an increasingly polarized society.

“Let us step out of the vicious circle of hatred and mutual accusations,” Ms. Caputova said at a news conference in the capital Bratislava. “What happened yesterday was an individual act. But the tense atmosphere of hatred was our collective work.”

President-Elect Peter Pellegrini called on political parties to suspend or scale back their campaigns for European elections, which will be held June 6-9, to prevent “stand-offs and mutual accusations between politicians.”

“If there is anything that the people of Slovakia urgently need today, it is at least basic agreement and unity among the Slovak political representation. And if not consensus, then please, at least civilized ways of discussing among each other,” Mr. Pelligrini said.

Mr. Fico’s government, elected last September, has caused controversy by halting arms deliveries to Ukraine, and has plans to amend the penal code to eliminate a special anti-graft prosecutor and to take control of public media. His critics worry that he will lead Slovakia — a nation of 5.4 million that belongs to NATO — down a more autocratic path.

Zuzana Eliasova, a resident of the capital Bratislava, said the attack on Mr. Fico was a “shock” to the nation and an attack on democracy at a time when political tensions were already running high.

“I believe that a lot of people or even the whole society will look into their conscience, because the polarization here has been huge among all different parts of society,” she said.

Doctors performed a five-hour operation on Mr. Fico, who was initially reported to be in life-threatening condition, according to director of the F.D. Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystrica, Miriam Lapunikova. He is being treated in an intensive care unit.

Five shots were fired outside a cultural center in the town of Handlova, nearly 140km northeast of the capital, government officials said.

Slovak police have provided no information on the identity of the shooter. But unconfirmed media reports suggested he was a 71-year-old retiree who was known as an amateur poet, and may have previously worked as a security guard at a mall in the country’s southwest.

Slovakia’s Security Council was set to meet in the capital of Bratislava on May 16 to discuss the situation, a government office said, adding that a Cabinet meeting would follow.

Mr. Fico returned to power in Slovakia last year, having previously served twice as Prime Minister. He and his Smer party have most often been described as left-populist, though he has also been compared to politicians on the right like the nationalist Prime Minister of neighbouring Hungary, Viktor Orbán.

Mr. Fico’s comeback caused concern among his critics that he and his party — which had long been tainted by scandal — would lead Slovakia away from the Western mainstream. He promised a tough stance against migration and non-governmental organizations and campaigned against LGBTQ+ rights.

Despite the controversy surrounding Mr. Fico’s leadership, condemnation of the attack came from both his allies and adversaries. On May 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to President Caputova, expressing his support and wishing the Prime Minister a fast and full recovery.

“This atrocious crime cannot be justified,” Mr. Putin said in the message released by the Kremlin. “I know Robert Fico as a courageous and strong-willed person. I truly hope these personal qualities will help him overcome this harsh situation.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also denounced the violence against a neighbouring country’s head of government.

“Every effort should be made to ensure that violence does not become the norm in any country, form or sphere,” he said.

Banska Bystrica:

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico fought for his life on an operating table Wednesday after being shot multiple times in what the government called a “political assault”.

Surgeons spent hours battling to save the 59-year-old populist leader after the attack that has been condemned around the world.

“The prime minister is in critical condition and his life is in danger and he is still in the operating theatre,” Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok told reporters at a hospital in the central city of Banska Bystrica.

Footage of events just after the shooting showed security agents grabbing a wounded Fico from the ground and hustling him into a black car that speeds away. Other police handcuffed a man on the pavement nearby.

Police had detained a suspect at the site of attack in Handlova, President Zuzana Caputova told reporters. “I am shocked, we are all shocked by the terrible and heinous attack,” she added.

Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak would not give information on the suspect but said: “What has happened is a political assault. It’s absolutely clear, and we have to react on that,” Kalinak said.

The emotional minister told reporters he hoped that in coming days authorities would “find (out) what’s happened. Now I’m just focusing on the status of Robert, on his health.”

Fico was shot multiple times, said a post on his official Facebook page.

“Today, after the government meeting in Handlova, there was an assassination attempt” on Fico, the government said.

– Unprecedented attack –

Public RTVS television showed a stretcher taken out of a helicopter by medics and wheeled into the hospital in Banska Bystrica surrounded by security guards. A cover was over the stretcher.

Fico, whose Smer-SD party won the general election last September, is a four-time prime minister and a political veteran accused of swaying his country’s foreign policy in favour of the Kremlin.

Media reported that the suspected gunman was a 71-year-old writer, but police have not named any suspects.

“I have absolutely no idea what father was thinking, what he was planning, why it happened,” the alleged suspect’s son told Slovak news site aktuality.sk.

Analyst Grigorij Meseznikov told AFP “there has been no (previous) attack on any minister or prime minister in Slovakia.”

“I only remember the case of former minister of economy Jan Ducky who was shot dead in 1999,” he added. “But he had not been politically active anymore when he was killed.”

– Attack condemned –

Slovak president-elect and Fico ally Peter Pellegrini said he learned of the shooting “with horror”.

“An assassination attempt on one of the highest constitutional officials is an unprecedented threat to Slovak democracy,” he added on X, formerly Twitter.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen denounced the “vile attack” while NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said he was “shocked and appalled”.

US President Joe Biden said he and the first lady “are praying for a swift recovery, and our thoughts are with his family and the people of Slovakia.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the “appalling” shooting while Russian President Vladimir Putin called the shooting a “heinous crime”.

“I know Robert Fico to be a courageous and strong-spirited man. I very much hope that these qualities will help him to withstand this difficult situation,” Putin said.

– Ukraine remarks –

As well as his current stint as premier, Fico headed the government in 2006-10 and 2012-18. He is married to lawyer Svetlana Ficova with whom he has a son, Michal, although Slovak media have reported the couple has separated.

Fico was forced to resign in 2018 after an investigative journalist’s murder exposed high-level corruption and sparked anti-government sentiment.

But he came back again.

Since returning to office last October, Fico has made a string of remarks that have soured ties between Slovakia and neighbouring Ukraine.

He has questioned Ukraine’s sovereignty and called for a compromise with Russia, which invaded in 2022.

After he was elected, Slovakia stopped sending weapons to Ukraine. He pledged during the electoral campaign not to provide Kyiv with “a single bullet”.

He also sparked mass protests with controversial changes, including a media law that critics say will undermine the impartiality of public television and radio.

At a press conference following the shooting, MP Lubos Blaha from Fico’s party lashed out against the prime minister’s critics.

“You, the liberal media, and progressive politicians are to blame. Robert Fico is fighting for his life because of your hatred,” Blaha said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)