Slovak leader Fico stable after surgery but condition ‘very serious’

BRATISLAVA/BANSKA BYSTRICA - Slovakia Prime Minister Robert Fico remains in a serious condition and it is too soon to say whether he will recover, a deputy prime minister said on May 16.

Mr Fico, 59, was shot multiple times on May 15 in

an assassination attempt

that laid bare deep political divisions in the country.

“Unfortunately, I cannot say yet that we are winning (the battle to save Mr Fico) or that the prognosis is positive because the injuries caused by four gunshot wounds are so extensive that the body’s response will still be very difficult,” Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak said.

Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok, speaking at the same news conference, said the shooter – who has been charged by the police with attempted murder – had acted alone and had previously taken part in anti-government protests.

“This is a lone wolf who had radicalised himself in the latest period after the presidential election (in April),” he said.

The suspect listed government policies on Ukraine and plans to reform the country’s public broadcaster and dismantle the special prosecutor’s office as reasons for the attack, the interior minister added.

Slovakia will convene a state security council meeting and the Cabinet was to meet from 11am on May 16, the government office said.

Ms Miriam Lapunikova, director of the F.D. Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica where Mr Fico is admitted, said the prime minister had undergone 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,” she told reporters.

Mr Kalinak said doctors had managed to stabilise Mr Fico's condition overnight and procedures were under way to secure further improvement.

The shooting was the first major assassination attempt on a European political leader for more than 20 years and spurred international condemnation, with political analysts and lawmakers saying it was indicative of an increasingly febrile and polarised political climate across the continent.

The gunman shot Mr Fico during a visit to the central Slovak town of Handlova, initially leaving the leader in critical condition and undergoing surgery hours later on May 15.

Slovak news media reported that the 71-year-old male shooter was a former security guard at a shopping mall and an author of three collections of poetry.

News outlet Aktuality.sk cited the shooter’s son as saying his father was the legal holder of a gun licence.

The incident raised questions over Mr Fico’s security arrangements, as the attacker managed to fire the shots at point-blank range despite the prime minister being accompanied by several bodyguards.

In an undated video posted on Facebook, the alleged attacker was seen saying: “I do not agree with government policy.”

“Liquidated mass media. Why is RTVS (public broadcaster) being attacked? Why are people... Mazak, why has he been kicked out of his post,” he continued, referring to Mr Jan Mazak, who had been removed as chairman of a state judicial council.

Reuters verified the person in the video matched images of the man arrested after Mr Fico’s shooting.

‘Politically motivated’

Mr Sutaj Estok told a news conference on May 15 that the attack was “politically motivated”.

Mr Fico and his government coalition allies have criticised sections of the media and the opposition, saying they had inflamed tensions in the central European state.

Slovakia’s biggest opposition party, the liberal, pro-western Progressive Slovakia, called off a planned protest and urged restraint to avoid escalating tensions.

The country of 5.4 million has seen polarised political debate in recent years, including a hard-fought presidential election last month that helped tighten Mr Fico’s grip on power after his ally Peter Pellegrini won.

Since returning for the fourth time as prime minister last October, Mr Fico has shifted policy quickly in what opposition critics said was a power grab threatening the rule of law.

His government has scaled back support for Ukraine while opening dialogue with Russia, sought to weaken punishments for corruption and dismantled a special prosecutor’s office dealing with high corruption, and proposed to revamp the RTVS public broadcaster despite calls to protect media freedom.

Mr Fico has long been critical of Slovakia’s mainstream media, refusing to speak to some outlets. Members of his party blasted media and opposition actions in recent months.

In Germany, which has recently seen a spate of attacks on politicians, Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed shock on May 15, saying that violence had no place in European politics. REUTERS