Slovakia’s prime minister remained in hospital in serious condition on Thursday, more than a week after he was shot in an assassination attempt that has replaced calls for political unity after the attack with renewed hostility in the divided Central European country.
Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times at close range in the central Slovak town of Handlova on May 15. The assassination attempt was the most serious attack on a European leader in decades and sent shock waves across Europe.
Fico has undergone several operations since the shooting and the government said on Thursday his condition was “serious but stable” at a hospital in the central city of Banska Bystrica.
Even before Fico was shot and killed, Slovakia was deeply divided between supporters of his right-wing nationalist and anti-immigration policies and opponents who accuse him of eroding democracy. The shooting prompted Slovak officials to appeal to political parties to urgently de-escalate tensions, with some warning of the risk of civil war.
But attempts to lower the temperature appear to have failed as the country returns to politics as usual.
Much of the hostility centers around a bill the government is pushing through parliament that would give it control over public broadcasters.
Critics have accused Fico’s government of stoking tensions and antagonizing the media, and his party has called for an overhaul of broadcasters to root out what it sees as unfair bias in favour of political opponents.
The law is part of a package of measures including those restricting corruption investigations and imposing restrictions on non-governmental organisations that critics denounce as Russian-style, which the European Commission said in February risked causing “irreparable damage” to the rule of law in Slovakia.
The bill was being debated in the Slovak parliament on the day Fico was shot dead, after the attack led to parliament being adjourned before resuming session this week.
Its first task on Tuesday was to approve a resolution condemning the attack on Fico and calling on political parties and the media not to “spread hatred.”
Parliament took up the broadcaster bill on Wednesday. It passed its first reading with 77 lawmakers voting in favour and 53 against. The bill needs to be approved by at least one more reading and signed by the president before it becomes law.
Michal Šimetzka, leader of the opposition Progressive Slovak Party, welcomed the government’s call for the European Parliament to suspend next month’s election campaign to “calm the situation”. But he attacked Mr Fico’s government, calling the bill a “bad law” that is “against the interests of the people and against European rules”.
He called on the government to withdraw the bill and “end dangerous efforts” to control television and radio in Slovakia.
Outgoing liberal president Zuzana Caputova and Peter Pellegrini, a Fico ally who will succeed her in June, had publicly indicated they would invite leaders of Slovakia’s main parties to meet to “calm the situation”.
But the past few days “have shown that some politicians are completely incapable of basic self-reflection, even after such a great tragedy,” Pellegrini said in a lengthy video posted on social media on Sunday. So I said it without naming names. “They don’t seem to understand that their past actions, statements, and disgusting attacks not on political ideas but on their proponents have contributed significantly to tensions in our society.”
The meeting was ultimately called off this week “due to public comments made by some of the leaders,” according to local news media.
Caputova and Pellegrini came together to appeal for calm, but their calls for national unity “did not reach beyond the presidential palace,” said Rubika Polakova, deputy director of Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia program.
“Coalition politicians are calling for unity but their calls are ringing hollow as they almost simultaneously blame the media and the opposition for polarizing politics,” she said.
Polakova added that this suggests the government may be trying to use the attack on Fico to justify attacks on independent media. He added that the bill is moving through Congress following that pattern.
Interior Minister Matus Staji-Estok insisted the government was committed to building political peace but suggested Thursday that old grudges would not be forgotten.
“I do not want to increase tensions in society, but we will never forget what led us to this situation,” he said in a Facebook post in an apparent attack on government critics.
Mr. Fico’s opponents say that Mr. Fico — who started his 30-year political career on the left but has long embraced right-wing political views with his party Sumeru — has no plans for his plans. describes some of it as an attempt to return Slovakia to the repressive Soviet Union. times.
Fitcho previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018 before being ousted amid street protests over the murder of a journalist investigating government corruption. He made an unexpected comeback last year, pledging a pro-Russia platform and promising social conservatism, nationalism and generous welfare programs.
Slovak authorities have released little information about the assassination attempt other than to say it was carried out by a politically disaffected man who became radicalized after the recent presidential election.
The 71-year-old suspect, who authorities identified only as Yurai C., is charged with attempted premeditated murder. The suspect appeared before a judge in a closed-door hearing in the western Slovakian city of Pezinok on Saturday and was taken into custody. On Thursday, Slovakia’s prosecutor general declined to say when the suspect would next appear in court.
Cassandra Vinograd Reported from London, Sarah Cinculova Born in Bratislava, Slovakia.
