Slovakia’s Prime Minister Fighting for his Life in Hospital after Today’s Assassination Attempt
At around 2.30pm this afternoon (1.30pm UK time) Slovakia’s 59 year old Prime Minister Robert Fico (pronounced ‘Feetso’), was shot whilst attending an event in Handlova, 150km (93 miles) north east of Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava. He was shot twice in the hand and once in the stomach and is currently in hospital in critical, though it is said stable, condition. According to Slovakian journalist Peter Hanak who was interviewed on Sky News earlier this afternoon, 4-5 shots were heard.
Handlova is a mining town in Central Slovakia where Fico is well liked. He was standing in front of the local centre for Education and Culture when a male voice called out ‘Robbo, over here!’. As Fico walked towards the barrier to shake the man’s hand, he was shot. The perpetrator is presently in custody and has not been named, but is said to be a 71 year old writer and former Security Guard. He is not hurt.
One of Hanak’s colleagues, also from the Slovakian news outlet Aktuality where he works, spoke to the shooter’s son. He too was shocked, saying his father had said nothing about the impending attack and hadn’t exhibited any worrying behaviour.
According to RUSI military expert, Michael Clarke, another guest on Sky News this afternoon, today’s attempted assassination risks giving Slovakia’s government a motive for a crack down. More will need to be ascertained on whether this was a lone wolf attack, or if the shooter is part of a larger organisation. If the latter, repression could follow.
Why?
We don’t know. Reports at 8pm say the attack was ‘politically motivated’. Today, Slovakia’s Parliament was in session discussing Fico’s intention to bring the main news channel under state control, for which a vote was scheduled tomorrow. Obviously talks in Parliament were immediately suspended on hearing the news. On 24th April Fico’s coalition government approved a controversial proposal to scrap the public broadcaster RTVS (Slovak Television and Radio) and replace it with its own mouthpiece. It was considered, by Fico’s government, that news coverage was not ‘objective’ enough. Once something becomes a ‘state institution’, Slovak law permits greater control over who is hired as a Director of that institution, and who is invited to join its Board of Directors. Fico would certainly have banished the current RTVS boss, Lobo Machaj, who was rumoured to be replaced by Lukas Machala. According to Politico, said contender ‘recently disputed whether the Earth was round’.
Protest was Planned
Slovakia’s major opposition parties, Progressive Slovakia and Freedom and Solidarity, cancelled plans to protest against the controversial overhaul resulting in full governmental control, or political capture, of public radio and television.
The Current Government
Fico established the ‘Smer’ (‘Direction’) party in 1999 with a left wing ideology and has been involved in politics since Slovakia was part of Czechoslovakia. He was Prime Minister between 2006-2010, and again between 2012-2018. In 2018, Fico was forced to step down as Slovakia’s leader following the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak.
In last year’s elections on 30th September, Fico returned to power for the 4th time as part of a three party coalition. Smer was accompanied by the right wing SNS (Slovak Nationalist Party), and the centre left pro-European HLAS party, having received only 23% of the vote: hence the need for a coalition. Although Fico’s original political ideology was on the left of the spectrum, there are no doubts that his policies have become more right wing and authoritarian over time.
This time around, Fico was elected on a platform of ‘no war with Russia’. Political divides in Slovakia are huge. Young voters in larger cities are more progressive, whilst a large part of Slovakia’s population are more conservative, more Catholic, less understanding towards the LGBT population, and have an anti-migration stance.
Understandably, some Eastern European countries are worried that if Russia wins the war in Ukraine, being ‘pro-Western’ in outlook could put them in the firing line. One only has to look to the current protests in Georgia to get a sense of the fear that is engulfing a society that since 2003, has lived in the hope that one day it could say what it wants, do what it wants, and vote how it wants. Unlike Georgia, Slovakia is part of the EU and NATO, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel the fear regardless.
A Sense of Foreboding
According to Peter Hanak during his interview with Sky News, Slovakia is so polarised right now that only a few weeks ago, Fico predicted someone in government would get hurt. There are complex reasons as to the febrile nature of Slovakia’s society. The previous government focused on anti-corruption and had a pro-western outlook. Many of Fico’s former colleagues within the Smer party were charged with corruption and some were sentenced. Then there was the murder of Jan Kuciak, the investigative journalist who was looking into tax fraud within government circles. His fiancée Martina Kusnirova was also killed. Both were shot in his apartment in February 2018. Jan was only 27 and worked for Aktuality, where Peter Hanak works currently.
There is also a very real risk that today’s events could further polarise Slovakian society and bring out underlying resentments. When tensions are high, people can be quick to blame. Agree or not, strong leaders hold things together. Slovakia is fragile right now and its leader is in hospital fighting for his life.
Global Condemnation
Slovakia’s government, opposition parties and leaders around the world have been quick to condemn the attack and for now, focus is on Mr Fico’s recovery. It is no secret that Slovakia, an EU member state and member of NATO, has taken a stance that is more pro-Russian than than the previous government; not unlike Hungary’s stance. Russia’s Ambassador to Slovakia was quick to condemn the attempted assassination. Putin’s statement came shortly after 5pm UK time and was posted on Telegram. ‘This hideous crime can have no justification’, he said.
Sources:
The Guardian, from earlier today, 15.5.24:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/15/robert-fico-slovakia-prime-minister
Politico article from 11.5.24 on Fico’s proposed state capture of the main public broadcaster:
BBC on Smer Coalition, 11.10.23:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67085070
Professor Michael Clarke, RUSI:
https://rusi.org/people/clarke-0
Peter Hanak, Aktuality:
https://www.aktuality.sk/autor/peter-hanak
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5 Comments On Slovakia’s Prime Minister Fighting for his Life in Hospital after Today’s Assassination Attempt
Thanks for the detailed information Samantha
Very sad world we are living in.
Very interesting analysis of the situation. The parallels with Georgia are stark and worrying.
Thank you for this informative article.
Thank you for sharing this situation detailed information. It is really sad what happened.
I found the assignation attempt quite shocking. Your article has helped me be better informed. You write so well. Thank you.