Robert Fico is back. That is the main message of the video that the Slovak Prime Minister published on his Facebook account early on Wednesday evening. “An activist from the Slovak opposition” wanted to murder him because of his political views, says Fico in the first sentence of the 14-minute video. The doctors at the hospital in Banská Bystrica prevented the worst. If he continues to recover well, he will be able to return to work at the end of June or beginning of July. A week ago, the 59-year-old returned to his apartment in Bratislava, where he is continuing to receive outpatient treatment.
Exactly three weeks ago, on May 15, Fico was shot during a visit to the small mining town of Handlová. A 71-year-old man who was arrested immediately after the attack fired five shots at the prime minister. In a video released shortly afterwards, which was recorded in the hallway of a police station, the man said that he was dissatisfied with Fico’s policies and opposed the dissolution of the public radio and television broadcaster RTVS. Robert Fico has been governing the country since October in a coalition with the left-wing populist Hlas party and the right-wing nationalist SNS. He is serving as his country’s prime minister for the fourth time.
“I forgive him”
The 71-year-old is in custody and faces a prison sentence of at least 25 years. He had owned the weapon legally. He had been active in a literary circle and had made derogatory comments about Roma in his texts. He is also said to have been active in a nationalist, pro-Russian, paramilitary organization. Initial indications that he may not have acted alone have not been confirmed.
“I forgive him,” says Fico in the video. It is obvious that the perpetrator was only “a messenger of evil and political hatred” that is being spread on an unprecedented scale by a “politically unsuccessful and frustrated opposition” in Slovakia. It is to be expected that the “anti-government media, foreign-funded non-governmental organizations and the opposition” will now begin to play down the attack as the act of a confused lone perpetrator who has nothing to do with them. They will certainly try to downplay the severity of his injuries. Fico himself does not comment on the nature of his injuries. It is very important to him to protect his privacy.
Opposition party rejects allegations
In the following minutes, Fico accused the European Social Democrats group in the European Parliament of excluding his party. His country was “absurdly” exposed to attacks from the EU and NATO because it did not want to support Ukraine with weapons. Fico also specifically criticized the governments of the neighboring countries of the Czech Republic and Poland. Some “larger democracies” did not accept Slovakia’s sovereignty.
The opposition must reflect on its behavior and practice democratic exchange of opinions. “If things continue as they are now, there will be more victims,” says Fico at the end of the video.
At the beginning of the year, Fico himself said at a press conference that people in Kiev had not felt the effects of the war. He had repeatedly insulted the president in vulgar terms, such as calling her an “American whore”. Fico had also repeatedly personally insulted the chairman of the liberal party Progresívne Slovensko, Michal Šimečka.
After the assassination, Šimečka called for 100 days of political calm and cooperation. In the evening, he commented on the video that he was sorry that Fico had rejected the offer of reconciliation. The economically liberal opposition party SaS strongly rejected the accusations that there were links to the assassin.
This Saturday, Slovakians are called to vote in the European elections. In the race for the 15 seats in Brussels, Fico’s party Smer is leading with 24.6 percent, according to the latest Ipsos poll, followed by the liberal party Progresívne Slovensko with 21.9 percent.