Slovakia’s prime minister: Shot at public event

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and wounded in the town of Handlova, Slovak state news agency TASR reported Wednesday, citing Slovak Parliament Deputy Speaker Ľuboš Blaha.

The shooting occurred during an unofficial government meeting, TASR notes.

The town of Handlova, where the event took place, is about two hours from the capital, Bratislava.

Several shots were fired, according to TASR, and the health condition of Slovakia’s prime minister is unknown.

Slovakia’s president, Zuzana Čaputová, was among the first to condemn the “brutal and reckless” attack on Fico.

“I strongly condemn today’s brutal and reckless attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico. I am shocked. I wish Roberto Fico all the strength at this critical time to recover from the attack,” Čaputová wrote on Facebook.

On the other hand, the deputy chairman of Slovakia’s National Council, Michal Šimečka, said he was horrified and shocked by the attack. He said on X that he hopes Slovakia’s prime minister is well after the shooting.

Slovakia’s prime minister: Shot at public event

Meanwhile the prime minister of the neighboring Czech Republic, Petr Fiala, said in X after the attack that violence cannot be tolerated.

“The news about the shooting of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is shocking. I wish the prime minister to recover as soon as possible. We must not tolerate violence, it should have no place in society.”

The Czech Republic shares a long border with Slovakia and a long history: until 1993, both countries were part of the former Czechoslovakia.

Robert Fico, a long-time politician, was elected prime minister in October after a campaign in which he criticized Western support for Ukraine.

Before the election, Robert Fico made no secret of his sympathies for the Kremlin and had blamed “Ukrainian Nazis and fascists” for provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin to launch the invasion, repeating the false narrative Putin has used to justify the war.

Fico, 59, had been meeting with supporters at a local cultural center.

A Reuters witness said he heard several gunshots and saw a man being detained by police. He added that he saw security officers pushing someone into a car and driving away.

European leaders reacted with surprise to the news and wished Robert Fico, Slovakia’s prime minister, well.

“I strongly condemn the vile attack against Prime Minister Robert Fico,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said via the social media platform X.

“These 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,” she added.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he was “deeply shocked by the heinous attack” against Slovakia’s Fico.

“We pray for his health and speedy recovery – God bless him and his country!” Orban said via X.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said The news of the “cowardly assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Fico has dismayed me greatly.”

“Violence must have no place in European politics. At this moment, my thoughts are with Robert Fico, his family and the citizens of Slovakia,” Scholz said through a publication translated by X.

Robert Fico, the current Prime Minister of Slovakia, has been Prime Minister of his country since October 25, 2023.

He previously served as prime minister from 2012 to 2018 and from 2006 to 2010.

He studied at the Faculty of Law of the Comenius University of Bratislava.

After graduation, he served between 1986 and 1987 compulsory military service as a deputy military investigator, stationed in the city Janovice.

In 1999 he founded the SMER party of which he has since become its top leader.

In the 2002 parliamentary elections, the Smer party won 13.46% of the votes and became the third largest political party in Slovakia.

Robert Fico’s party was the most voted party in the 2006 parliamentary elections with 29.1% of the votes and formed a coalition government with the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (of Vladimír Mečiar) and SNS (of Ján Slota).

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