Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and critically injured after a cabinet meeting in the town of Handlová, 200 kilometers northeast of the capital Bratislava. He was taken to a hospital, reports the Slovak news agency TASR, citing the deputy leader of Fico’s Smer party, Ľuboš Blaha. The government office in Bratislava also confirmed the attack. On the head of government’s Facebook account It is said that Fico is currently in life-threatening condition. The rescue service announced that the head of government had been flown to a hospital by helicopter.
No further information is known about the background to the crime. An employee of the Reuters news agency reported that he heard several shots and saw a man being arrested by the police. The arrested man was taken into a car by security forces and driven away. Local media also reported an arrest.
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“There was a crowd waiting outside and one of them started shooting,” reports the newspaper Hospodárske noviny citing an employee on site. The shooter aimed directly at the prime minister, the report said. Fico was shot several times. The area in front of the House of Culture in Handlová where the government meeting took place was cleared.
Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová strongly condemned the attack, reports the TASR agency, citing a spokesman for the head of state. “I am shocked. I wish Robert Fico a lot of strength to recover from the attack at this critical moment,” she said. In the past, the liberal Čaputová had repeatedly expressed criticism of the policies of the left-national head of government and his controversial judicial reforms. Fico is considered pro-Russian. Čaputová visited Kyiv just a few days ago.
Tough confrontation with the opposition
Robert Fico has been Prime Minister of Slovakia since October 2023, and he has held the office several times before. He is chairman of the left-wing populist party Smer-SD. During his first term in office, Slovakia joined the Schengen Agreement, and since then the country has also used the euro for payments. Slovakia has been a member of the European Union since 2004.
Fico has recently been criticized. In January, tens of thousands followed the call for protests from three opposition parties, criticizing Fico’s reform plans to abolish the so-called special prosecutor’s office, which is essentially responsible for corruption cases. In addition, the penalties for many offenses related to nepotism and bribery are to be reduced. Just three weeks ago, the Slovak government under Fico agreed to the dissolution of the public broadcaster RTVS.
According to the German Press Agency, just a few days ago the head of government accused the liberal opposition of creating a climate of hostility against the government. It cannot be ruled out that an act of violence will occur at some point in such a climate.
Statements of solidarity from von der Leyen and Scholz
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the attack on Fico as “abhorrent.” “Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our greatest common good,” she wrote on X. Your thoughts are with Fico and his family. EU Council President Charles Michel was also shocked by the attack. Violence and such attacks cannot be justified by anything, he wrote on X.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) wrote on Violence should have no place in European politics. “In these hours my thoughts are with Robert Fico, the relatives and the citizens of Slovakia.” Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) was also affected. At the start of a speech in the Bundestag, the Federal Minister of Economics wished Fico a “get well soon” and called for verbal disarmament.
The Slovak opposition also condemned the attack. An attack on the Prime Minister is also an attack on the state and internal security of Slovakia, said the chairman of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (SaS), Branislav Gröhling, according to the TASR agency. Gröhling called on society to calm down and called for disputes about different political opinions to be resolved in parliament.