“Escaped death by a hair’s breadth”
Prime Minister Fico, who was shot, can be contacted
May 16, 2024, 5:30 p.m
After a cabinet meeting, the Slovakian Prime Minister Fico is gunned down by a man. First of all, the politician’s life is in danger. Now he can speak again.
The Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was seriously injured in an assassination attempt, can be contacted again. “He can speak, but only a few sentences, and then he is very, very exhausted,” said Slovak President-elect Peter Pellegrini outside the hospital in Banska Bystrica where the 59-year-old is being treated. “The situation is very critical.” Difficult hours and days lie ahead for the head of government.
Pellegrini explained that the attack had crossed a “red line”. “The head of government escaped death by a hair’s breadth. It would have been enough if the gunshot wound or several gunshot wounds had been a few centimeters further away, and we might have to talk about completely different things today.”
Fico was hit by several shots while talking to citizens after a cabinet meeting in the small town of Handlova in the center of the country on Wednesday. Fico was seriously injured in the attack and had to undergo emergency surgery lasting several hours. According to Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak, his health remains “very serious”.
Interior Minister: Assassin angry over presidential election
The suspect, a writer from the central Slovakian town of Levice, was overpowered and arrested by security forces. The 71-year-old was a lone perpetrator who was angry about the outcome of the presidential election in Slovakia, said Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok.
Fico’s left-wing populist party Smer won the parliamentary elections at the end of September with a pro-Russian and anti-American program. He returned to power after three previous terms as head of government. The previous parliamentary speaker, Peter Pellegrini, won the runoff election for the presidency in April. He is an ally of Fico.
Critics fear that Slovakia under Fico could abandon its pro-Western course and take its cue from Hungary and its populist prime minister Viktor Orban. Thousands of people recently gathered repeatedly in Bratislava and other places in the country to protest against Fico’s policies.