Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is in a “very serious” but stable condition following an assassination attempt against him on Wednesday, May 15th. The prime minister underwent five hours of surgery with two teams to treat multiple gunshot wounds. “At this point, his condition is stabilised but is truly very serious, he will be in the intensive care unit,” Miriam Lapuníková, director of the F.D. Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica told reporters.
“Unfortunately his condition continues to be very serious due to the complicated nature of the wounds,” Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinák said, adding that Fico suffered serious polytrauma, indicating injuries to at least two vital body systems.
Fico had previously warned about a possible assassination attempt. On April 10th, in a video uploaded on to his Facebook page, the PM said there was a lot of tension in society, which he attributed to the opposition party Progressive Slovakia and the press, and the “hysteria” surrounding the parliamentary election results.
I’m just waiting to see when this frustration, which Denník N, Sme, or Aktuality are deepening so intensively, will turn into a murder against a leading government politician. And I’m not exaggerating, not one millimetre.
The 59-year-old politician was shot just before 3 p.m. yesterday in the central Slovakian town of Handlová. After a government meeting, Fico went to shake hands with a crowd of people who had gathered outside the venue, and was shot five times at point blank range by 71-year-old Juraj Cintula, a poet and writer, and former security guard at a shopping mall, who had taken part in previous anti-Fico demonstrations. The prime minister was immediately rushed to his car by his security detail and taken to the nearest hospital by helicopter. The perpetrator was wrestled to the ground. He was charged on Thursday with attempted premeditated murder, and will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The Slovakian minister of the interior, Matúš Šutaj Eštok, stated that the assassination was politically motivated. According to Slovakian media reports, Juraj Cintula had no previous brushes with the law, but had been vocal about his disdain toward the current government. Videos uploaded on social media show him taking part in an anti-Fico rally in April, chanting “Long live Ukraine!,” “Traitors,” “We’ve had enough of Fico.” The protesters held up signs in support of the public broadcaster RTVS which the government has been proposing to revamp due to its liberal political bias.
In a video uploaded on social media, Cintula is seen after his arrest saying he does not agree with the policies of the government, citing moves against the public broadcaster and mentioning the removal of Ján Mazák as the chairman of a state judicial council.
Cintula was the legal holder of a gun licence but, according to his son, had no known psychological problems. “I have absolutely no idea what my father intended, what he planned, what happened.” When asked if Cintula felt any hatred toward Fico, the son said: “I’ll tell you this: he didn’t vote for him. That’s all I can say about it.”
Neighbours of Cintula said he was a peaceful man, who lived a normal pensioner’s life with his wife. The head of a local library in the man’s hometown said “he was rebellious when he was young, but not aggressive.”
Ironically, in 2016, Cintura attempted to start a movement “Against Violence,” the purpose of which was to gather
those who are against violence of all kinds, from the state of war to domestic physical or psychological violence against women, children, elderly people, men, animals, violence in the streets of towns and villages. Violence is present on the international scene, in Europe, where militarisation, extremism, neo-Nazism, and anarchy are growing.
The statement for the inception of the group also said, “Violence is often a reaction of people, as a form of expressing ordinary dissatisfaction with the state of affairs.” Several political statements by the man could be found on social media, in which he condemned violence and weapons.
Robert Fico came back into power for a fourth tenure as prime minister following parliamentary elections in September. His left-wing nationalist, anti-globalist, sovereigntist government replaced a more EU-aligned centre-right-liberal coalition. Fico has angered the Slovakian liberal media, leftist European parties and the Brussels political establishment for his tough EU-critical, anti-immigration and anti-war stance, and his friendship with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. He has been accused of being pro-Russian for refusing to send weapons to Ukraine, and condemning EU sanctions against Russia that he believes harm Europe economically.
Since day one of his return to power, he has been threatened that EU institutions would withhold Slovakia’s EU funds for alleged ‘rule-of-law’ violations. Brussels has criticised the government for a law that abolished the special prosecutor’s office, which dealt with corruption cases, led by a former political opponent of Fico. The prime minister believes the office was politically misused to only investigate and prosecute members of Fico’s party.
Despite Western media describing recent events in Slovakia—the parliamentary elections, the heated political debate, anti-Fico protests, and April’s presidential election—as “political turmoil,” there has been no physical violence or anything out of the ordinary in the country apart from the usual heated political discourse—which the assassination attempt has stirred up even more.
Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj-Eštok in a news conference Wednesday called on everyone “to stop piling attacks, expressions of hate, on social networks, in the media, which are aimed at this or that political camp, regardless if it concerns the (government) coalition or the opposition.” Michal Šimečka, leader of the main opposition party, Progressive Slovakia, called for restraint, saying “instead of blaming each other, today we need to reduce tensions and polarisation in society.” The opposition cancelled a planned protest.
Slovakian newspapers also struck a conciliatory tone, with anti-Fico daily Sme writing “Robert Fico was attacked by hatred, and through him it attacked us,” therefore “it is imperative that each and every one of us condemns this heinous act, regardless of what we believe in or whom we support politically.” Daily Pravda condemned the assassination attempt, saying “it was a blow to the heart of our democracy and society.”Slovakia will convene a state security council meeting and the cabinet will also meet on Thursday. Outgoing President Zuzana Čaputová—a political opponent of Fico—and her successor Peter Pellegrini—Fico’s ally—held a joint press conference on Thursday, condemning the attack, and inviting leaders of the political parties to the presidential palace for talks. Čaputová said politics was responsible for recent tensions in society, and Pellegrini warned parties not to use the situation for political gains.
Who will temporarily replace Fico was not clear at the time of writing. If conscious, the PM can appoint one of his four deputies to act in his stead. Eight years ago, when Fico underwent medical treatment, Robert Kaliňák and current president-elect Peter Pellegrini, both then deputy PMs, were appointed to that role. Slovak law is unclear on what happens if the prime minister is not able to make such an appointment. The current four deputies, representing the parties in the governing coalition, are Robert Kaliňák from Směr, Tomáš Taraba from SNS and Denisa Saková and Peter Kmec from Hlas.
