71yo arrested after Slovak PM gunned down

A man in his seventies has been arrested after a suspected murder attempt against the Slovakian PM who remains in a “very serious” condition.

Authorities have charged an alleged gunman on Thursday (Slovakia time) with the attempted murder of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, saying the shooting was sparked by the election win last month of a Fico ally.

The PM’s condition has stabilised but was still “very serious” a day after the violence that prompted deep worries of an escalation in the politically polarised nation.

Five shots were fired towards Mr Fico after a cabinet meeting in the town of Handlova in the centre of European nation.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was on May 15, 2024 shot and hospitalised after a cabinet meeting in the central town of Handlova, local media said. (Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP)

Dramatic footage showed Mr Fico, who is considered to be pro-Kremlin, being carried and then bundled into a car, flanked by his bodyguards, and driven away at speed.

Police have not named the suspect but it’s widely been reported as being a 71-year-old male writer.

A grey-haired suspect was seen being handcuffed on the ground just after the shooting.

The alleged suspect’s son told Slovak news site aktuality.sk he had “absolutely no idea what father was thinking, what he was planning, why it happened”.

“This is a lone wolf whose actions were accelerated after the presidential elections since he was dissatisfied with its outcome,” interior minister Matus Sutaj Estok said.

This image taken from video footage obtained by AFPTV shows security personnel apprehending a suspected gunman. (Photo by RTVS / AFP)

Slovak president-elect Peter Pellegrini, the Fico ally who won April’s vote, earlier on Thursday called for calm, urging political parties to halt campaigning for June’s EU parliament election.

The leader of the biggest opposition party, centrist Progressive Slovakia, announced his grouping had already done so.

Slovakia’s politics have been divided for years between pro-Europeans and nationalist-leaning camps, with the latest elections heavily influenced by disinformation and verbal attacks on social media.

Mr Pellegrini, Mr Fico’s ally who will assume office in June, said Slovakia should avoid “further confrontation” in a joint statement with outgoing President Zuzana Caputova.

The two politicians represent rival political camps but Ms Caputova said they wanted “to send a signal of understanding” as she urged an end to “the vicious circle of hatred”.

Surgeons spent hours in the operating theatre, battling to save the 59-year-old leader after the shooting, which happened on Wednesday afternoon as Fico spoke to members of the public after a meeting.

Security personnel carrying Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico (C) towards a vehicle after he was shot in Handlova on May 15, 2024. (Photo by RTVS / AFP)

Deputy prime minister Robert Kalinak said doctors stabilised Mr Fico’s condition, “but unfortunately, his condition is still very serious as the injuries are complicated”.

Mr Fico, whose party won the general election last September, is a four-time prime minister and political veteran accused of swaying his country’s foreign policy in favour of the Kremlin.

Outside the hospital, shock mixed with outrage as residents of Banska Bystrica, here the PM was being treated, condemned the assault.

“I’m certainly afraid that such attacks will be repeated,” Nina Stevulova, a 18-year-old student, said.

“There’s no need to do such things. Feel free to throw a tomato or an egg at him or scold him that ‘You are a thief or a murderer’,” Karol Reichl, a former professional driver, told AFP.

“But don’t come with a gun and shoot,” the 69-year-old said.

In the central Slovak city of Levice, where the alleged gunman came from, engineer Jaroslav Pirozak told AFP he was sad for Mr Fico.

“But at the same time, he’s the one spreading hate and dividing the society, he’s the one sowing hatred,” the 34-year-old said.

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova (R) and president-elect of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini, arrive for a press conference in Bratislava, on May 16, 2024 following the attack. (Photo by VLADIMIR SIMICEK / AFP)

As well as his current stint as premier, Fico headed the government in 2006-10 and 2012-18.

He was forced to resign in 2018 after an investigative journalist’s murder exposed high-level corruption and sparked anti-government sentiment.

But he came back again.

Since returning to office last October, Mr Fico has made a string of remarks that have soured ties between Slovakia and neighbouring Ukraine after he questioned Ukraine’s sovereignty.

After he was elected, Slovakia stopped sending weapons to Ukraine, invaded by Russia in 2022.

He also sparked mass protests with controversial changes, including a media law that critics say will undermine the impartiality of public broadcasters.

At a press conference following the shooting, MP Lubos Blaha from Mr Fico’s party lashed out against the prime minister’s critics.

“You, the liberal media, and progressive politicians are to blame. Robert Fico is fighting for his life because of your hatred,” Mr Blaha said.

- with AFP.