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Slovakia’s Populist Prime Minister Robert Fico Has Been Shot, the Shooter Identified

May 15, 2024 GOVERNMENT, Spotlight 0

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ER Editor: We have published a few reports on Robert Fico. See here.

Some tweets —

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Slovakia’s Populist Prime Minister Robert Fico Has Been Shot

Tyler Durden's Photo TYLER DURDEN

Update(1220ET): The identity of the shooter has been revealed in national media, and video of the actual moment the shots range out and PM Fico went down has emerged on some social media platforms.

Several local media reports, citing visuals and witnesses at the scene, report that the man who shot the Slovak PM is a writer and activist named Juraj Cintula.

While a clear motive has yet to be established, Cintula is said to be part of the pro-West and socially liberal “Progressive Slovakia” party.

Statements have poured in from Western leaders: “Shocked and appalled by the shooting of Prime Minister Robert Fico. I wish him strength for a speedy recovery. My thoughts are with Robert Fico, his loved ones, and the people of Slovakia,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on X.

Photographs have emerged of the shooter being taken into custody. He also appears to be wounded or have suffered injury after being swiftly taken down by security…

And from Hungary’s Orban:

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Wednesday expressed “deep shock” over the “heinous attack against my friend” Slovakia’s premier Robert Fico, who was reportedly shot and hospitalised after a cabinet meeting.

“I was deeply shocked by the heinous attack against my friend, Prime Minister Robert Fico. We pray for his health and quick recovery! God bless him and his country!,” the nationalist fellow EU leader wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Russian media and others have pointed out that Fico’s most controversial stance concerned Ukraine and NATO funding. Sputnik has the below partial list of recent controversies centering on the Slovak PM:

  • Fico earned NATO’s ire after vowing to block the delivery of weapons to Ukraine during his latest run for office. Fico has also expressed dissatisfaction with Bratislava’s defense pact with Washington, promising to review it.
  • Fico has expressed fervent opposition to Ukraine’s membership in NATO, and said he believes Russia began its military operation as a result of neo-Nazis running rampant in Ukraine.
  • Fico has warned that Western military assistance to Ukraine will only prolong the crisis and increase the number of victims, and has accused foreign forces of meddling in the conflict, which “could have been extinguished at the very beginning.”
  • Fico believes anti-Russian sanctions have “negatively affected” the lives of ordinary Slovaks.
  • Fico has been bashed by European legacy media as a left-wing populist analogue of Hungarian right-wing populist Viktor Orban, with outlets pulling out all the stops to accuse him of “democratic backsliding” and “flouting European norms,” including over his push to reform the criminal code.
  • The Slovak PM has also made enemies with powerful European political and business interests, promising to launch an independent inquiry into the EU’s authoritarian pandemic-era policies.

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Slovakia’s populist prime minister Robert Fico has been shot, according to breaking news reports, after which he was rushed to the hospital and appears to be alive according to early reports. But some reports have listed his condition as “very serious” and that he had to be airlifted.

According to emerging details in The Associated Press, Fico “was injured in a shooting and taken to hospital. The incident took place in the town of Handlova, some 150 kilometers northeast of the capital, according to the news television station TA3.”

Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico, file image

Local authorities say that a suspect is in custody. The shooting happened in front of the House of Culture where a government meeting was taking place.

One eyewitness “saw the prime minister being lifted from the ground by security guards and loaded into a car and driven away.”

Several people were greeting Fico and the moment the shots rang out, after which the prime minister fell to the ground. The would-be assassin was then taken by police. No details have been released as to the extent of his injuries.

Unconfirmed video of the immediate aftermath:

He has been outspoken against deepening Western involvement in the Ukraine war, for which he’s made many enemies and critics among Western allies, and of course within Ukraine itself.

For example, here’s how CNN last October described his ascendancy to prime minister and leader of the small NATO member state… “A party headed by a pro-Kremlin figure came out top after securing more votes than expected in an election in Slovakia, official results show, in what could pose a challenge to NATO and EU unity on Ukraine.”

However, at this early point a motive is unknown.

A national outlet in Slovakia has reported the following unconfirmed details of his condition (machine translation):

According to the available information, which immediately began to spread, Prime Minister Robert Fico was hit by 2-3 wounds, allegedly in the limb, chest and abdomen. It is said that up to 4-5 shots should have been fired. According to information from the PLUS 7 DAYS weekly , someone from the crowd called out “Robo, come here” and the shooting started.

“It’s a gunshot wound to the abdomen and arm. He’s currently out of danger. They’re going to operate on him,” our well-informed source told us at 3:30 p.m.

developing…

Source

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