Robert Fico: a “lone wolf” indicted for attempted assassination, according to the minister

BANSKA BYSTRICA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovak authorities on Thursday charged a man with assassination attempt Populist Prime Minister Robert Fico said the suspect acted alone in a politically motivated attack that exposed the extreme polarization that has gripped the small central European country.

Fico, 59, was in serious but stable condition a day after being shot several times in the stomach, a hospital official said. President-elect Peter Pellegrini said he spoke to Fico in hospital, but confirmed his condition “remains very serious.”

The assassination attempt shocked the nation and reverberated across the continent weeks before European elections. While President Zuzana Caputova called on everyone to take the opportunity to tone down the vitriol that has characterized the political debate, some government ministers criticized Slovak media for contributing to the tense atmosphere.

Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok asked journalists to “reflect” on how they had covered Fico’s policies. He called the suspect – accused of premeditated murder – a “lone wolf” who did not belong to any political group, while saying the attack itself was politically motivated.

Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond, and his return to power last year His pro-Russian, anti-American message raised even greater concerns among other members of the European Union and NATO, who feared that he would abandon his country’s pro-Western path, particularly on the ‘Ukraine. At the start of the Russian invasion, Slovakia was one of Ukraine’s strongest supporters, but Fico cut off arms deliveries to the neighbor when he came to power.

Fico’s government also made efforts to overhaul public broadcasting — a move that critics say would result in total government control of public television and radio. This coupled with its plans to modify the penal code The removal of a special anti-corruption prosecutor has led opponents to fear that Fico will lead Slovakia down a more autocratic path.

Thousands of demonstrators have gathered on several occasions in the capital and in this country of 5.4 million inhabitants to protest against his policies.

Slovak police have provided little information about the identity of the suspect. But unconfirmed media reports suggest he is a 71-year-old retiree known as an amateur poet and who may have previously worked as a security guard at a shopping center in the southwest of the country.

At a press conference Thursday after a meeting of the Slovak Security Council, government ministers gave more details about the man, without always naming him.

Estok said the man himself cited his dissatisfaction with several of Fico’s policies to justify the attack. The minister said the spring presidential elections were the impetus for the attack and that the suspect had participated in a recent anti-government demonstration.

“I can confirm to you that the reason this was a premeditated and politically motivated murder attempt is, as the suspect himself said: the media information he had,” he said. he declares. “I think each of you can reflect on how you presented it.”

At the same press conference, Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kaliňák also blamed the media for tensions in the country.

The tenor of these remarks contrasted with that of a press conference held earlier in the day, during which the country’s outgoing and incoming presidents – political rivals – appeared together to call on Slovaks to overcome their political differences. more and more tense.

“Let’s get out of the vicious circle of hatred and mutual accusations,” said Caputova, the outgoing president and Fico’s rival. “What happened yesterday was an individual act. But this tense atmosphere of hatred was our collective work.”

Pellegrini, the president-elect, called on political parties to suspend or reduce their campaigns for the European elections, which will be held June 6-9.

“If there is something that the Slovak people urgently need today, it is at least a basic agreement and unity within the Slovak political representation. And if there is no consensus, then please, at least civilized ways to discuss among ourselves,” Pelligrini said.

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

“I believe that many people, even society as a whole, will examine their conscience, because the polarization here has been enormous between all parts of society,” she said.

Doctors operated on Fico for five hours, whose life was initially in danger, according to the director of the FD Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystrica, Miriam Lapunikova. He is being treated in an intensive care unit.

Five shots were fired as Fico greeted supporters at an event Wednesday in the former mining town of Handlova, nearly 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital, government officials said .

Fico returned to power in Slovakia last year, after serving as prime minister twice. He and his Smer party have most often been described as left-wing populists, although he has also been compared to right-wing politicians like the nationalist prime minister of neighboring Hungary, Viktor Orbán.

Condemnation of the attack came from both Fico’s allies and adversaries abroad. Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to President Caputova on Wednesday, expressing his support and wishing the Prime Minister a speedy and full recovery.

“This atrocious crime cannot be justified,” Putin said in the message released by the Kremlin. “I know Robert Fico as a courageous and determined person. I sincerely hope that these personal qualities will help him overcome this difficult situation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also denounced the violence against the head of government of a neighboring country.

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

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Josek and Jenne reported from Bratislava, Slovakia. Associated Press journalists Jan Gebert in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, and Karel Janicek in Prague contributed.