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Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was seriously injured on Wednesday in a shooting that the government called an assassination and implicated several politicians in the country’s sharp polarization.
Fico’s office said he was in “life-threatening” condition after being shot multiple times while greeting people in the town of Handlová, about 190 kilometers from the Central European country’s capital Bratislava.
“The next few hours will decide,” it added.
The government said the 59-year-old pro-Russian, populist leader was transferred by helicopter to a hospital in the nearby city of Banská Bystrica, instead of Bratislava, because he needed “acute intervention”.
According to Defense Minister Robert Kaliňák, a close ally of the prime minister, Fico underwent surgery on Wednesday evening.
He added that Fico’s situation is “very complicated”, but “we believe that he will be strong enough to overcome this injury”.
Local media reported that a man with a gun license was arrested on suspicion of the shooting.
Slovak Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok said the attacker had “clear political motives,” adding that the attacker decided to act after Peter Pellegrini, an ally of the Fico coalition, won won the country’s presidential election in April.
Some politicians in the prime minister’s coalition quickly claimed the opposition had provoked the attack.
Deputy Prime Minister Tomáš Taraba said that “the entire hateful opposition has bloody fingers”.
Other politicians linked the shooting to bitter political divisions affecting Slovakia, an EU member state.
In a televised address to the nation, outgoing President Zuzana Čaputová called for a halt to harsh language against politicians.
“The hateful rhetoric we witness leads to hateful actions,” she said. “A physical attack on the prime minister is primarily an attack on an individual, but also on democracy.”
Čaputová said she was shocked by the “brutal and reckless” attack and wished Fico “a lot of strength at this critical time for his recovery.”
Milan Nič, an analyst at the German Council on Foreign Relations and former adviser to the Slovak Foreign Ministry, said death threats against politicians are common in Slovakia.
“It was not an isolated incident. It is one of the most polarized countries in Europe. . . with constant threats to the lives of politicians,” he added.
Fico, founder of the populist party Smer, begins his fourth term took office last October, leading a three-way Eurosceptic alliance.
That group has been at odds with liberal and pro-EU groups as it has called for tough anti-migrant measures and an end to sanctions on Russia imposed after it invaded Ukraine. .
Fico’s return to power has sparked mass protests this year, echoing large-scale demonstrations in 2018 over the shooting death of a 27-year-old journalist who was investigating alleged links to Fico. relationship between Smer and organized crime. Fico resigned his previous term amid those protests.
Michal Šimečka, leader of the country’s liberal opposition, said on the social networking site X: “We completely and strongly condemn today’s act of violence and the shooting death of Prime Minister Robert Fico. We believe he will be fine.
“At the same time, we call on all politicians to refrain from any statements and actions that could contribute to the escalation of tensions.”
Since returning to the position of prime minister of Slovakia, Fico has made controversial political moves such as dissolving the anti-corruption office despite warnings from Brussels.
Last month, his coalition introduced legislation targeting NGOs that critics say was inspired by Hungary’s crackdown on civil rights groups.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a political ally of Fico in the EU, said he was shocked by the “vicious attack on my friend”.
Other world leaders quickly condemned the shooting. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said: “Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good. . . My thoughts are with Prime Minister Fico and his family.”
US President Joe Biden said: “We condemn this terrible act of violence.”
