Slovakia PM shooting – live: Robert Fico ‘escaped death by a hair’ as president says situation ‘critical’
Slovak populist prime minister shot in stomach during meeting with supporters in Handlova
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The Slovakian prime minister “escaped death by just a hair,” after he was shot in the stomach in an assassination attempt on Wednesday.
Mr Fico, 59, was injured after five shots were fired outside the House of Culture in the town of Handlova where the leader was meeting with supporters.
In an update on Thursday, Slovakia’s president-elect Peter Pellegrini said the PM is still “critical” as he is living “the worst hours and days of his life”.
He added that if the bullets struck just a few millimetres either side, the Mr Fico would have been killed.
Suspect Juraj Cintula, 71, believed to be a former security guard and poet, was charged with attempted murder and faces up to 25 years in prison.
He is believed to have attended anti-government protests, and in social media posts referred to having disagreements with Mr Fico’s policies.
Mr Fico, a well-known ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, is a divisive figure in Slovak politics, with the European Union Parliament elections due to take place in three weeks.
Who is Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico?
Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico shot in ‘politically motivated’ attempted assassination
Robert Fico, Slovakia's populist prime minister, who returned to power on a pro-Russian platform
Slovakia’s parliament suspended after prime minister Robert Fico injured in shooting
Hospital where Slovak PM being treated give update
The FD Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica, where Robert Fico is being treated for injuries, is now giving a live update. Stay tuned as we keep you posted.
PM is ‘living the worst hours and days of his life'
The prime minister is “living the worst hours and days of his life,” the president of Slovakia has said.
In a press conference outside the hospital where PM Robert Fico is being treated: “We hope he will survive these days and that we will be able to witness his quick recovery.”
Fico was ‘saved from death by a hair,’ president says
The prime minister was “saved from death by a hair,” Slovakia’s president said as he urged the country to turn away from violence.
Newly elected president, Peter Pellegrini, said if the bullets struck just a few millimetres either side, the PM would have been killed.
Slovakian president says PM’s health is ‘critical'
The Slovakian president Peter Pellegrini said though the prime minister Robert Fico’s situation is “critical”, he was able to speak to him in hospital.
However, he said that the PM was only able to say a few words before becoming “very tired”.
He added that Mr Fico’s health situation is “incredibly difficult” and his health is “not safe”.
Mr Pellegrini said the next few days will show whether the PM’s body will be able to fight through.
Slovakia’s president calls on political parties to suspend campaigns for European elections
Peter Pellegrini, the president-elect, called on political parties to suspend or scale back their campaigns for European elections, which will be held June 6-9.
“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.
Zuzana Eliasova, a resident of the capital, Bratislava, said the attack on 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 polarisation here has been huge among all different parts of society,” she said.
Polish PM Tusk says he received threats after assassination attempt on Slovakia's PM
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday he received threats after the assassination attempt on his Slovakian counterpart, with a media outlet reporting his security protection would be strengthened.
Slovakia‘s Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot five times at close range on Wednesday, spurring international condemnation and calls for a calming of political tensions.
“There was a lot of it yesterday,” Tusk said in a post on the X social media platform illustrated with a screenshot of a comment, also on X, saying: “today, Slovaks gave us an example of what should be done with Donald Tusk” if he decided not to carry out investment in a big airport in central Poland.
The political atmosphere in Poland has been charged in recent years, including the murder in 2019 of a liberal mayor of Gdansk who was a critic of then ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party’s anti-immigrant policies.
Who is Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico?
Slovakia’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico has been shot and is in life-threatening condition in hospital.
Fico, 59, was injured after multiple shots were fired outside a cultural centre in Handlova, Slovakia – about 90 miles (150km) from the capital Bratislava – where the leader was meeting his supporters.
Images showed police detaining a suspect following the shooting, which the interior minister called an assassination attempt.
Deputy prime minister Tomáš Taraba called it a “brutal and ruthless” attack.
So who is Robert Fico, what party is he from and what is his political? The Independent takes a look below.
Who is Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico?
The populist Slovakian prime minister is in a life-threatening condition in hospital, the government says
Suspect in attack on Slovak PM showed no signs of extremism, neighbours say
A 71-year-old former security guard charged on Thursday with the attempted murder of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is the author of three collections of poetry who neighbours said had shown no sign of political extremism.
Fico, 59, was shot as he greeted supporters in the small town of Handlova, in central Slovakia, and underwent hours of surgery. A hospital official said on Thursday that the prime minister was in “very serious” but stable condition.
The suspect, who was apprehended at the scene, has not been named by authorities but scattered details about him began to emerge as the country struggled to make sense of the attack.
A neighbour in the modest seven-storey building in Levice, a town of about 36,500 inhabitants due south of Handlova, where the suspect lives, said he had known the man for 40 years and that he had never vented extreme political views.
“He was a polite man and wasn’t strong about politics as such, but he did feel that some of the measures of the government weren’t correct,” pensioner Mile Ludovit, 68, told Reuters through an interpreter.
“Some of the media reports say he was planning it for a month already, but there was no sign of it.”
What do we know about the suspect?
The suspect was a former security guard at a shopping centre, the author of three collections of poetry and a member of the Slovak Society of Writers, local media reported.
News outlet Aktuality.sk cited his son as saying his father was the legal holder of a gun licence. “I have absolutely no idea what my father intended, what he planned, what happened,” it quoted the son as saying.
The son said that all he could say about his father’s views about Fico was that he did not vote for him and that his father was not a psychiatric patient.
A member of the Rainbow Literary Club in Levice told Reuters the suspect had been one of its founders. In a statement, the club condemned the attack and said that as a strictly apolitical group it had revoked his membership with immediate effect.
Peter Klinko, a club member, told Reuters he had last met the suspect about two years ago. “If I had to describe him, I can say in one word that he is a good person,” he said.
“But even a good jug carries water only until it breaks. I can’t tell you anything about his latest thought processes.”
Tanaiste Micheal Martin said that the type of attack on politicians Gardai mostly fear is a “lone wolf situation”.
He was speaking after the prime minister of Slovakia Robert Fico was shot several times on Wednesday.
“Around 2011-12, we had many people on the far left doing a lot of activity and sort of following us around with phones and videos and all the rest of it.
“That’s happening from far right elements. The only difference I see is the aggression and the hostility and incredible bad language and the threatening and intimidating nature, but it’s a minority.
“Gardai will tell you mostly that their fear, really, in terms of attacks on politicians, the kind of horrible attack on the prime minister of Slovakia yesterday, is perhaps a lone wolf situation, and the circumstances could be anything. That’s something that can happen in all walks of life, at any time.”
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