Slovakia’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico, remained in serious condition on May 19 but has been given a positive prognosis four days after he was shot multiple times in an assassination attempt that has sent shockwaves across the deeply polarized European Union nation, the defense minister said.

“The worst of what we feared has passed, at least for the moment. But his condition remains serious,” Robert Kalinak told reporters outside the hospital where Fico is being treated. “His condition is stable with a positive prognosis.”

Mr. Kalinak added that the hospital treating the Slovak leader in Banská Bystrica, a former coal mining town of 16,000 situated 29 kilometers (17 miles) from where Fico was attacked, will continue to issue updates on his health status.

On May 19 afternoon, Mr. Kalinak revealed new details about the ongoing investigation saying there may have been a “third party” involved in “acting for the benefit of the perpetrator”, in what was previously described by the authorities as a “lone wolf” attack. The official did not provide additional details.

“The situation is turning out to be even worse than we expected,” Mr. Kalinak said. ”Plus other indications that these facts of Wednesday’s attack have been discussed in a wider circle. All of this is shocking information, and for many of us, it would be much easier if we could talk about just one person.”

Milan Urbáni, deputy director of the hospital, told reporters that “Based on the doctors’ morning consultation, we can conclude that the patient is currently out of a life-threatening condition. His condition remains very serious, and he needs a long time to rest to recover. We firmly believe that everything will go in a good direction.”

Mr. Fico, 59, was shot in the abdomen as he greeted supporters on Wednesday outside a cultural center in the town of Handlova, nearly 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital, Bratislava. Video showed the Slovak premier approach people gathered at barricades and reach out to shake hands as a man stepped forward, extended his arm and fired five rounds before being tackled and arrested.

On Friday, Mr. Fico underwent two hours of surgery to remove dead tissue from his gunshot wounds, but he was not healthy enough to be transferred to the capital, officials said on May 18.

The country’s Specialized Criminal Court in the town of Pezinok on May 18 ordered the suspected assailant, who is charged with attempted murder, to remain behind bars. Prosecutors said they feared he could flee or commit other crimes if freed, a court spokesperson said. The suspect can appeal the order.

Little information about the would-be assassin has been disclosed after prosecutors told police not to publicly identify him or release details about the case. Unconfirmed media reports have named him and said he was a 71-year-old retiree known as an amateur poet who may have once worked as a mall security guard. Government authorities have given details that matched that description. They said the suspect didn’t belong to any political groups, though the attack itself was politically motivated.

Slovakia’s interior minister, Matus Sutaj Estok, said on May 19 that the attack on Mr. Fico is an “attack on democracy in any normal country”. “At a time when democracy is being attacked, it must be the security forces that have to give a clear signal that they are prepared to protect the population of the Slovak Republic,” he said.

Mr. Fico said last month on Facebook that he believed rising tensions in the country could lead to the killing of politicians, and he blamed the media for fueling tensions in the country of 5.4 million.

Slovakia’s three-party coalition government has also partly accused the media of fueling the vitriolic discourse that has beleaguered the EU country in recent years and led to deep social divisions.

Andrej Danko, chairman of the government’s smallest coalition partner, the Slovak National Party, said May 19 he is expecting a government meeting early next week to discuss media laws and journalistic ethics, including how journalists report on domestic politics.

In his address on May 19, Mr. Kalinak also stressed that lessons must be learned from the violent attack on Mr. Fico, who has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. “This must be a memento. If we don’t learn, we’re heading for hell,” he said. “We need to bring this situation back to what we can consider standard.”

Mr. Fico’s government has made efforts to overhaul public broadcasting — a move critics said would give the government full control of public television and radio. That, along with his plans to amend the penal code to eliminate a special anti-graft prosecutor, have led opponents to worry that Fico will lead Slovakia down a more autocratic path.

Before Mr. Fico returned to power last year, many of his political and business associates were the focus of police investigations, and dozens have been charged. His plan to overhaul the penal system would eliminate the office of the special prosecutor that deals with organized crime, corruption and extremism.

At the St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Banská Bystrica on Sunday, churchgoer and lawyer Pavel Bachleda called the assassination attempt “a great tragedy” but also expressed concerns about how Fico and his Smer, or Direction, party has conducted itself in recent years.

“I would say partly also his actions, his actions in the previous months and years, have brought about the situation in our country,” he told The Associated Press. “You get the impression that they concentrate more on revenge, political revenge than on real things that our country needs.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Slovakia Robert Kalinak, speaks during a media briefing together with hospital director Miriam Lapunikova (left), outside the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital.
| Photo Credit: AP

“Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico is in a stable but serious condition on May 15, after being shot multiple times in an assassination attempt a day earlier,” a hospital official said.

Doctors are continuing to treat Mr. Fico in an attempt to improve his condition, Defence Minister Robert Kalinak told reporters outside the hospital in Banska Bystrica.

Also Read: ‘Cowardly and dastardly act’: PM Modi condemns attack on Slovak PM Fico

The government says five shots were fired at Mr. Fico on May 15 outside a cultural centre where he was meeting with supporters.

“A suspect was in custody and an initial investigation found “a clear political motivation” behind the assassination attempt,” Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said on Wednesday.

Mr. Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond, but 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 lead his country further from the Western mainstream.

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday condemned the attack on Slovakia’s PM Robert Fico, calling it a “cowardly and dastardly act”.

The Slovakian Prime Minister was critically injured in an assassination attempt on Wednesday.

Expressing shock over the attack, PM Modi posted on his X handle, “Deeply shocked at the news of the shooting at Slovakia’s Prime Minister, H.E. Mr. Robert Fico. I strongly condemn this cowardly and dastardly act and wish PM Fico a speedy recovery. India stands in solidarity with the people of the Slovak Republic.”

According to local media, the Slovak Prime Minister is no longer in a life-threatening condition after surgery.

The attack has been classified as a politically motivated assassination attempt, according to Slovak Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok.

Estok said that the assassination attempt was “politically motivated and the decision was born right after the presidential election”. He blamed “social media hate” for the attack.

Fico was wounded Wednesday afternoon after attending a government meeting in the town of Handlova, some 150 km northeast of the capital. He was shot by a 71-year-old man. According to eyewitnesses, the man shot the premier several times as he was greeting supporters.

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

Washington:

Following the shooting of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, AFP looks at five other political leaders around the world targeted in armed attacks in recent years:

Shinzo Abe: Assassinated

In a drama that sent shock waves through a country with low gun crime, former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who had resigned from his position in 2020 but remained a key political voice, was campaigning for his ruling party when a lone gunman killed him on July 8, 2022.

Abe’s accused killer targeted the former leader believing he had ties to the Unification Church, which he resented over massive donations his mother had made to the sect.

Jovenel Moise: Assassinated

Haitian president Jovenel Moise was shot dead in the middle of the night on July 7, 2021 in his private residence in Port-au-Prince by a band of 28 mercenaries.

His wife Martine was also shot but survived.

His death plunged an already lawless, gang-plagued Haiti deeper into turmoil.

Most of his attackers were former Colombian soldiers.

A US investigation revealed that two men at the head of a Miami security firm had devised a plan to kidnap Moise and replace him with a Haitian-American citizen.

Imran Khan: Attempted Assassination

On November 3, 2022, former Pakistani prime minister and ex-cricket superstar Imran Khan was hit by a spray of gunfire as his open-top truck made its way through a crowded street in the eastern city of Wazirabad. 

Khan, who had been ousted from power earlier that year after losing the support of the military, had been campaigning for a snap election.

The government said the assassination bid was the work of a lone wolf attacker, with police leaking a “confession” video by the junk-shop owner saying he acted because Khan’s rally had interrupted the Muslim call to prayer.

Cristina Kirchner: Attempted Assassination

On September 1, 2022, a man tried to shoot Argentina’s vice president Cristina Kirchner at point-blank range while she greeted supporters gathered outside her home in Buenos Aires — but the weapon failed to fire. 

Kirchner, a centre-left president from 2007 to 2015 who is an extremely polarising figure in Argentina, was at the time fighting corruption charges that had bitterly divided the nation between supporters and opponents of her Peronism movement.

Her attacker, a Brazilian man who grew up in Argentina, was seen on social media bearing tattoos associated with Nazi symbolism.

Jair Bolsonaro: Attempted Assassination

On September 6, 2018 Brazilian far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro was stabbed in the abdomen on the campaign trail by an attacker later deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.

Former army captain Bolsonaro, dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics”, underwent abdominal surgery in the wake of the attack and went on to win the election.

He served a single term before losing his re-election bid to veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
 

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

Handlova:

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico suffered life-threatening injuries when he was shot multiple times on Wednesday. Here is what we know about the incident:

What happened?

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, a 59-year-old four-time premier who came back to power after his Smer-SD party won a general election last year, chaired a government meeting in the central town of Handlova. Shots were fired after the meeting.

“There was an assassination attempt on Robert Fico. He was shot multiple times and is currently in a life-threatening condition,” said a statement on Fico’s official Facebook page.

Daniel Vrazda, a journalist with Dennik N newspaper who was covering the event, said he heard four shots and saw Fico on the ground and then being carried away.

Video footage obtained by AFPTV showed two guards carrying Fico by his arms while other guards opened the doors to a black Mercedes limousine that sped away. 

Security personnel apprehended a man in jeans who was lying on the ground in handcuffs, the video showed.

Fico was later transported by a helicopter to hospital in Banska Bystrica.  Slovak public television RTVS showed images of a stretcher surrounded by security guards being wheeled into a hospital.

What was the official response?

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova expressed shock at the attack on her political opponent and spoke out against what she called a “brutal and reckless attack.”

Fico’s close ally, Peter Pellegrini, who is to succeed Caputova in June, has also condemned the “assassination attempt”.

“I am horrified by where the hatred towards another political opinion can lead,” Pellegrini said on X (formerly Twitter).

The parliament session in Bratislava was suspended following the attack and security measures have been bolstered.

The Slovak opposition called off a rally planned for Wednesday against government plans to reform the public broadcaster, which have been slammed by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) media watchdog.

Reactions from leaders

World leaders quickly condemned the attack.

“Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good. My thoughts are with PM Fico, his family,” said EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.

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

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 in a statement.

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

New Delhi:

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and hospitalised after a cabinet meeting in the central town of Handlova today.

Visuals of the aftermath of the attack show his bodyguards taking him inside his armoured limousine.

The Dennik N daily, whose reporter saw the premier being lifted into a car by security guards, reported that the suspected gunman had been detained by police, news agency AFP reported.

Eastern European media NEXTA in a post on X, quoting local reports, said the Prime Minister was shot multiple times.

“One to the abdomen, one to the head. He’s in serious condition,” NEXTA said in the post.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen denounced the “vile attack” on Robert Fico.

“I strongly condemn the vile attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico. Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good. My thoughts are with PM Fico, his family,” von der Leyen said on X.

The first minutes after the attack on Robert #Fico – the prime minister’s security guards evacuate him to his motorcade while eyewitnesses hold the shooter

According to preliminary information from Slovak media, Fico was shot multiple times. One to the abdomen, one to the… pic.twitter.com/vhcYPPjjlg

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 15, 2024

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova condemned the “brutal and reckless” attack on the Prime Minister. “I am shocked. I wish Robert Fico a lot of strength in this critical moment to recover from the attack,” she said in a statement, calling it “a brutal and reckless attack”.

Slovakia’s presidential candidate Peter Pellegrini gestures at his headquarters on the day the results of the country’s presidential election are announced, in Bratislava, Slovakia, April 7, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

A close ally of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico beat a pro-Western career diplomat to become Slovakia’s new President, and succeed Zuzana Čaputová, the country’s first female head of State.

Parliamentary Speaker Peter Pellegrini received 53.85% of the vote with the ballots from over 98% polling stations counted by the Statistics Office in Saturday’s runoff election, topping former Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok who had 46.14%.

Mr. Korčok conceded the defeat and congratulated the winner.

“I’m disappointed,” he said.

Mr. Pellegrini becomes Slovakia’s sixth President since the country gained independence after the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

Mr. Čaputová, a staunch backer of neighboring Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, didn’t seek a second term in the largely ceremonial post.

Mr. Pellegrini’s victory cemented Mr. Fico’s grip on power by giving him and his allies control of major strategic posts.

The President of the nation of 5.4 million people picks the Prime Minister after parliamentary elections, swears in the new government and appoints Constitutional Court judges. The President can also veto laws, though Parliament can override the veto with a simple majority, and challenge them at the Constitutional Court. The head of State also has the right to pardon convicts.

The government, led by the Prime Minister, possesses most executive powers.

Mr. Fico’s leftist Smer (Direction) party won Sept. 30 parliamentary elections on a pro-Russian and anti-American platform.

Mr. Pellegrini, 48, who favors a strong role for the State, heads the left-wing Hlas (Voice) party that finished third in the vote and joined a governing coalition with Mr. Fico and the ultranationalist Slovak National Party.

Critics worry Slovakia under Mr. Fico will abandon its pro-Western course and follow the direction of Hungary under populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The new government immediately halted any arms deliveries to Ukraine. Thousands have repeatedly taken to the streets across Slovakia recently to rally against Mr. Fico’s pro-Russian and other policies, including plans to amend the penal code and take control of the public media.

Mr. Korčok was critical of the government’s moves that the protesters fear could undermine the rule of law while Mr. Pellegrini backed the new government and didn’t question its policies.

Mr. Korčok is the former ambassador to the United States and Germany, who also served as the country’s envoy to NATO and the European Union. He firmly supports Slovakia’s EU and NATO memberships.

Mr. Pellegrini, who was Mr. Fico’s former Deputy in Smer, became Prime Minister in 2018, after Mr. Fico was forced to resign following major anti-government street protests over the killing of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee.

Mr. Pellegrini had temporarily parted ways with Mr. Fico after the scandal-tainted Smer lost the previous election in 2020.

With Mr. Pellegrini’s win, Mr. Fico rebounded from two straight presidential election losses. Mr. Fico was defeated at the presidential vote by Andrej Kiska 10 years ago while Čaputová claimed victory over a candidate he supported in the 2019 ballot.

Left to right: The chairman of the “Voice” party Peter Pellegrini, the Chairman of the Smer party Robert Fico and the chairman of the Slovak National Party Andrej Danko before signing an understanding to form a coalition government in Slovakia, on October 11, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AFP

A former Prime Minister of Slovakia, who plans to end the country’s military support for Ukraine, is poised to return to office after his political party signed a deal on October 11 with two other parties to form a coalition government.

The leftist Smer, or Direction, party captured 22.9% of the vote in Slovakia’s September 30 parliamentary election. The party’s leader, populist former Prime Minister Robert Fico, needed to find coalition partners to rule with a majority in the country’s 150-seat Parliament.

The memorandum signed on October 11 provides for a coalition of Smer, which holds 42 seats; the left-wing Hlas, or Voice, party, which placed third in the election and has 27 seats; and the ultra-nationalist and pro-Russia Slovak National Party, which has 10 lawmakers in the new parliament.

Mr. Fico’s former deputy in Smer, Peter Pellegrini, is the leader of Hlas. Mr. Pellegrini parted ways with Fico after the scandal-tainted Smer lost the previous election in 2020. Their reunion was a key to Mr. Fico’s ability to form a government.

It was not immediately clear when President Zuzana Caputova might swear in the new government. Mr. Fico said he hoped to represent Slovakia at the next summit of the leaders of European Union member nations, which is scheduled for late October.

As part of the coalition deal, Smer will get to appoint the Prime Minister and six other Ministers, opening the way for Mr. Fico to serve as Slovakia’s head of government for the fourth time.

Hlas will get to name the Parliament Speaker and seven Cabinet Ministers, and the Slovak National Party three Ministers.

The deal struck by the three groups means that the Progressive Slovakia party, a liberal, pro-Western newcomer that took second place in the election with 18% of the vote, will end up in the opposition. The party holds 32 seats in Parliament.

Mr. Fico campaigned on a pro-Russian and anti-American message. He has vowed to withdraw Slovakia’s military support for Ukraine, and his victory could further strain the fragile unity in the European Union and NATO.

He said he wants Slovakia to remain a member of the EU and NATO but with “full respect” for his country’s sovereignty.

“The protection of sovereignty and national interests of Slovakia will be the government’s priority,” Mr. Fico said. He pledged the protect his country against illegal migration that has been recently on the rise in Europe.

Mr. Fico’s critics worry that his return to power could lead Slovakia to abandon its course in other ways, following the path of Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and to a lesser extent of Poland under the Law and Justice party.

Bratislava:

A Slovak populist party that wants to stop military aid to Ukraine and is critical of the EU and NATO will be tasked with forming a new government after winning elections.

The Smer-SD party led by former prime minister Robert Fico scored 23 percent in Saturday’s vote, beating the centrist Progressive Slovakia at 18 percent.

“Slovakia and the people in Slovakia have bigger problems than (dealing with) Ukraine,” Fico told reporters on Sunday.

He added Ukraine was “a huge tragedy for all” and called for peace talks as “further killing will not help anyone”.

During the campaign, the 59-year-old vowed that Slovakia would not send “a single round of ammunition” to Ukraine and called for better ties with Russia.

President Zuzana Caputova, a former member of Progressive Slovakia and a longtime political rival of Fico, said she would task him with forming a new government.

“In the spirit of our constitutional tradition, tomorrow I will entrust the formation of the government to the winner of the election,” she said in a statement.

Analysts have said a Fico government could radically change Slovakia’s foreign policy to resemble that of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

But Fico, a leftist former lawyer, said Sunday that Slovakia’s foreign policy focus would not change as “we are naturally EU members”.

“That of course doesn’t mean I can’t criticise things in the EU that I don’t like.”

Hungary is seen as a troublemaker in the EU, frequently criticised by Brussels for rule-of-law issues and hampering EU and NATO efforts to help Ukraine.

“In Robert Fico, Orban will get a new ally,” analyst Tomas Koziak from the Czech University of Political Sciences told AFP.

Orban himself congratulated Fico on X, formerly Twitter, “on his undisputable victory at the Slovak parliamentary elections”.

“Always good to work together with a patriot. Looking forward to it!” Orban wrote.

‘People are fed up’

Many ordinary Slovaks are less concerned about foreign policy and hope the new government will focus on the economy and squabble less than the last one.

Selling bread rolls in a Bratislava bakery, Jana Urbanova told AFP she expected the government to tackle “unbearable” inflation.

“Fico is experienced, he is a professional, isn’t he? I did not vote for him but I don’t think it matters that he won,” she said.

Tomas Hrivnak, 23, said he had voted for Progressive Slovakia and was “disappointed” but added that the result was “not the end of the world”.

“I think people are fed up with the former government of centrist and right-wing politicians, their quarrels and inability to run this country properly,” he said.

But another Progressive Slovakia voter, Eva Lichnerova, voiced concern.

“The biggest threat that I see is the diversion from the European Union, the shift towards Russia, the suppression of journalists’ rights and freedoms,” she said.

Ukraine aid

Smer has won 42 seats in the 150-member parliament and needs coalition partners for a majority.

Hlas-SD, which emerged in 2020 as a breakaway party from Smer, is a potential partner with 27 seats.

Its chairman Peter Pellegrini became premier in 2018 after Fico’s resignation amid nationwide protests following the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, Martina Kusnirova.

Kuciak uncovered links between the Italian mafia and Fico’s government in his last article, published posthumously.

The two parties could team up with the nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS), which won 10 seats, for a parliamentary majority of 79 seats.

Fico has already ruled twice with the SNS, which is also opposed to military aid for Ukraine.

Slovakia is one of Europe’s biggest donors to Ukraine, relative to the size of its economy.

Surge in disinformation

Slovakia’s next parliament will also include the centrist OLaNO party of maverick former premier Igor Matovic, who got involved in a fistfight with a Smer member during the heated campaign.

The centrist Christian Democrats and the right-wing SaS also garnered enough votes to have seats in parliament.

The election campaign was tarnished by particularly high rates of online disinformation, often targeting Progressive Slovakia chairman Michal Simecka, a European Parliament vice-speaker.

Slovakia emerged as an independent country in 1993, following a peaceful split with the Czech Republic after Czechoslovakia shed four decades of totalitarian communist rule in 1989.

Although many Slovaks have experience with the Moscow-steered communist regime, analysts say many are vulnerable to pro-Kremlin disinformation.

Fico’s election campaign also featured rhetoric against the LGBTQ+ community and migrants, causing concern among non-governmental organisations.

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