‘He was a messenger of evil and political hatred’: Prime Minister of Slovakia speaks for the first time about the attack against him

The politician, at the head of a government that has shown its closeness with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, added that his attacker “was only the messenger of evil and political hatred that the frustrated and politically unsuccessful opposition promoted in Slovakia.”

The assassination attempt, which occurred after a government meeting in Handlova, a city in central Slovakia, caused great shock in this country of 5.4 million inhabitants, a member of the European Union and NATO, which is experiencing a strong political division for years.

(You may be interested in: How will Joe Biden’s decision to restrict asylum applications in the United States affect Colombians?)

The politician was seriously injured, but stated in his Facebook message that He forgave the attacker who shot him four times.

He also announced that he was ready to gradually resume his duties later this month. “I have no hatred toward the stranger who shot me,” he said. “I forgive him and let him sort out what he did and why he did it in his own head,” he added.
​
​”If everything goes as planned, I could gradually return to work between June and July,” he continued.

Fico left the hospital on May 31 and had been convalescing since then at his home in Bratislava. the Slovak capital. The politician suffered gunshot wounds to the small intestine, for which he underwent two operations.

The suspect in the attack, identified by Slovak media as Juraj Cintula, a 71-year-old poet, was charged with attempted premeditated murder and placed in preventive detention, although days later he was transferred to a psychiatric center.

(Continue reading: ‘He is a narcissus’: revealing audios that Ana María Henao sent to a friend about David Knezevich; motive for disappearance would be economical)
​
​The attacker, with a pacifist past, shot the politician with a 9-caliber CZ 75 pistol after a meeting of ministers in the town of Handlova, in central Slovakia.

Fico, who headed the government between 2006-2010 and 2012-2018, took over as prime minister again after his centrist populist party, Smer-SD, won the general election in October 2023.

The politician achieved this new mandate after campaigning on peace proposals between Russia and Ukraine, Slovakia’s neighbor, and after promising to stop sending military aid to kyiv, which he did after being elected.

The att
ack on Fico, who heads a coalition of left-wing populists and ultranationalists, It also occurred in a context of social and political polarization, which has been exacerbated in recent months due to several controversies adopted by the Government.

Especially the abolition of the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, which was in charge of several investigations of Fico co-religionists and related oligarchs, unleashed a wave of massive protests.

Also outraged are a plan to dismantle the public radio and television entity and a bill to limit the activities of NGOs.

Fico’s alleged attacker participated in some of those anti-government protests and after his arrest he admitted that his aggression had been motivated by his rejection of the head of government’s policies, including his decision to stop delivering weapons to Ukraine.

Later, in a statement to the Pezinok Special Court, he said he regretted his crime and assured that he would not commit it again.