Slovak’s strongest opposition party, Progressive Slovakia (PS), has indefinitely suspended its campaign for the European Parliament elections.
This comes following the assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday.
PS head Michal Šimečka said he had unsuccessfully urged the heads of all parliamentary groups to come together.
Šimečka said as early as an hour after the attack on the prime minister on Wednesday that his party was suspending political activity, including canceling a demonstration announced for the evening of that day in defense of the independence of public media. He added that he was suspending his party’s election campaign indefinitely.
Following the attack on Fico, most Slovak politicians called for reconciliation. Among other things, they proposed limiting posts on social media. In contrast, the chairman of the smallest party in the government coalition, the nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS), Andrej Danko, spoke in a different tone. He assessed that Slovakia was on the threshold of a political war and blamed the opposition parties and the liberal media for bringing the country to this stage.
Robert Fico had been meeting supporters in the small town of Handlová when he was hit at point blank range by three bullets. Security officers wrestled a man to the ground immediately after the attack, according to Denník N journalist present at the scene. The paper later reported that the suspect was a 71-year-old poet and member of the leftist Rainbow Literary Club, Juraj Cintula, who had previously tried to establish his own party.
Later, Slovak deputy prime minister Tomáš Taraba told the BBC he thought Fico would survive.
“I guess in the end he will survive. He’s not in a life threatening situation at this moment,” Taraba said.
At a press conference on Thursday morning, Defense Minister Robert Kaliňák told reporters that “during the night, doctors managed to stabilize Prime Minister Robert Fico’s condition, but it is still serious.”
The director of the hospital, Miriam Lapuniková, added that the prime minister is currently in intensive care, where he is being cared for by a team of doctors.
She added that on Wednesday, Fico was operated on for over five hours by two teams of doctors—surgical and traumatological.
PS head Michal Šimečka said he had unsuccessfully urged the heads of all parliamentary groups to come together.
Šimečka said as early as an hour after the attack on the prime minister on Wednesday that his party was suspending political activity, including canceling a demonstration announced for the evening of that day in defense of the independence of public media. He added that he was suspending his party’s election campaign indefinitely.
Following the attack on Fico, most Slovak politicians called for reconciliation. Among other things, they proposed limiting posts on social media. In contrast, the chairman of the smallest party in the government coalition, the nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS), Andrej Danko, spoke in a different tone. He assessed that Slovakia was on the threshold of a political war and blamed the opposition parties and the liberal media for bringing the country to this stage.
Robert Fico had been meeting supporters in the small town of Handlová when he was hit at point blank range by three bullets. Security officers wrestled a man to the ground immediately after the attack, according to Denník N journalist present at the scene. The paper later reported that the suspect was a 71-year-old poet and member of the leftist Rainbow Literary Club, Juraj Cintula, who had previously tried to establish his own party.
Later, Slovak deputy prime minister Tomáš Taraba told the BBC he thought Fico would survive.
“I guess in the end he will survive. He’s not in a life threatening situation at this moment,” Taraba said.
At a press conference on Thursday morning, Defense Minister Robert Kaliňák told reporters that “during the night, doctors managed to stabilize Prime Minister Robert Fico’s condition, but it is still serious.”
The director of the hospital, Miriam Lapuniková, added that the prime minister is currently in intensive care, where he is being cared for by a team of doctors.
She added that on Wednesday, Fico was operated on for over five hours by two teams of doctors—surgical and traumatological.
Source: PAP, TVP World
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