Banska Bystrica, May 17: Slovak authorities charged a man Thursday with attempting to assassinate populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, saying the suspect acted alone in a politically motivated attack that laid bare the extreme polarization that has gripped the small central European country.Fico, 59, was in serious but stable condition a day after being shot multiple times in the stomach, a hospital official said. President-elect Peter Pellegrini said he spoke to Fico at the hospital but confirmed his condition “remains very serious.”
The attempted assassination has shocked the nation and reverberated across the continent weeks ahead of European elections. While President Zuzana Caputova called on everyone to take the opportunity to dial back the vitriol that has characterized the political debate, some government ministers took aim at Slovakia’s media for contributing to the fractious atmosphere.
Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok asked journalists to “reflect” on how they had covered Fico’s policies. He referred to the suspect — who was charged with premeditated murder — as a “lone wolf” who did not belong to any political groups, though he said the attack itself was politically motivated.
Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond, and his return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American message led to even greater worries among fellow European Union and NATO members that he would abandon his country’s pro-Western course — particularly on Ukraine. At the start of Russia’s invasion, Slovakia was one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, but Fico halted arms deliveries to the neighbor when he came to power.
Fico’s government has also made efforts to overhaul public broadcasting — a move critics said would result in the government’s full control of public television and radio. That coupled with his plans to amend the penal code to eliminate a special anti-graft prosecutor have led opponents to worry that Fico will lead Slovakia down a more autocratic path.
Thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and around the country of 5.4 million to protest his policies.
Slovak police have provided little information on the identity of the suspect. But unconfirmed media reports suggested he was a 71-year-old retiree who was known as an amateur poet, and may have previously worked as a security guard at a mall in the country’s southwest.