Press
Following the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Fico, his condition remains critical. The political climate in Slovakia is being put to the test.
Bratislava – As a result of the assassination attempt on Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, the politician underwent another emergency operation. Although Fico’s health condition is now “stable,” it remains “very serious,” Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kaliňák said on Friday in Banská Bystrica, where Fico is in the Roosevelt Hospital.
Slovak Prime Minister Fico was shot a total of five times
Fico has been receiving treatment here since he was shot after a cabinet meeting in the town of Handlová on Wednesday. The hospital’s director, Miriam Lapuníková, explained that the Prime Minister of Slovakia was operated on by two surgical teams for around five hours. “The patient had multiple gunshot wounds,” said Lapuníková from the news agency APA quoted.
According to reports, the 59-year-old Slovakian prime minister was hit by a total of five shots, both in the stomach and in the arms. The town of Handlová, where the attack took place, is located around 150 kilometers northeast of the capital Bratislava, in the center of Slovakia.
The severity and complexity of the injuries complicates Fico’s recovery
The Slovak Defense Minister Ronert Kaliňák, who represented Fico during his absence, thanked the medical staff at the hospital and emphasized: “We all want to believe that we will be able to handle the situation.” Kaliňák is considered a close confidant of Fico and is also his deputy in the Left Party Smer. The first four days after the gunshot wound are the most stressful,” Kaliňák told the Slovakian daily Dennik N . “I’m in a better mood because I see progress,” he emphasized.
The severity of the injuries could make recovery difficult. Fico will “have to learn a lot of things again,” quotes the German press agency (dpa) Kaliňák on Friday afternoon. Even if the Prime Minister is accessible in the hospital, there is still no final certainty “that we have won”. Fico is not yet out of danger. Doctors pointed out that the existing complications could continue to be life-threatening even after the operation.
Pellegrini: Assassination attempt shows “where hatred of a different political opinion can lead”
On Thursday (May 16), Fico received a visit from his predecessor in the post of Prime Minister, Peter Pellegrini, in the hospital in Banská Bystrica. He only spoke to him for a few minutes. There are “difficult hours and days” ahead of Fico. The head of government “avoided death by a hair’s breadth,” added the Slovakian ex-prime minister, according to the dpa and Reuters added.
At the same time, Pellegrini also reported on the Short message service X (formerly Twitter): “An assassination attempt on the Prime Minister is a threat to everything that has distinguished Slovak democracy so far,” wrote Pellegrini. At the same time, he expressed his horror at “where hatred of a different political opinion can lead.”
The former Slovak prime minister added: “If we express different political opinions with weapons in the squares and not in the polling stations, we are endangering everything we have built together over 31 years of Slovak sovereignty.”
The political mood in Slovakia has recently become increasingly tense
The assassination attempt on Prime Minister Robert Fico is the first such case in Slovakia’s history. The Slovak Prime Minister has been in his fourth term in office since October. The government is formed by his party, the social democratic Smer, with a more moderate left-wing government partner and a small right-wing nationalist party.
Just recently, Prime Minister Fico accused the liberal opposition in Slovakia of fomenting a climate of hostility against his government. Fico is both the founder and leading politician of the left-wing party Smer-SSD, which has recently become increasingly nationalistic.
At the same time, however, Fico, who has been one of Slovakia’s most popular politicians for almost 30 years, polarizes like no other. Opponents call him “pro-Russian” and accuse him of wanting to lead Slovakia on a similar course to which Viktor Orbán has already taken Hungary. The news portal Euractiv Meanwhile, the headline said that “Slovakia is threatened with an anti-liberal turnaround”.
International consternation after the Fico assassination attempt – and concern from the pro-European opposition in Slovakia
Since then, the liberal, pro-European opposition in Slovakia has seen the rule of law and press freedom in the country at risk. She regularly organizes anti-government protests. On the day of the attack, she wanted to demonstrate against the planned abolition of public media. But now most parties have canceled all protests and events before the European elections until further notice. Nationalists also addressed the public with serious threats following the assassination attempt on Fico.
The assassination attempt on the Slovakian prime minister also caused consternation in Germany. “The news of the cowardly assassination attempt on Slovakian Prime Minister Fico shocks me greatly,” wrote Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on the short message service X. Violence should have no place in European politics. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) criticized populism before a speech in the Bundestag.
According to the Slovakian Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok, the perpetrator was a 71-year-old from the small town of Levice. An initial interrogation revealed that he had a “clearly political motive,” namely rejection of government policy. According to media reports, Juraj C. worked for a private security service in the past and therefore had a firearms license. (fh with AFP)
#Condition #Slovak #Prime #Minister