{"id":51470,"date":"2024-05-15T21:52:03","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T21:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/15\/attempted-assassination-of-slovak-leader-puts-europe-on-edge\/"},"modified":"2024-05-15T21:52:03","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T21:52:03","slug":"attempted-assassination-of-slovak-leader-puts-europe-on-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/15\/attempted-assassination-of-slovak-leader-puts-europe-on-edge\/","title":{"rendered":"Attempted Assassination of Slovak Leader Puts Europe on Edge"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/15\/multimedia\/15slovakia-fico-1-lzmp\/15slovakia-fico-1-lzmp-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Attempted Assassination of Slovak Leader Puts Europe on Edge\" title=\"Attempted Assassination of Slovak Leader Puts Europe on Edge\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A gunman shot Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia, who is known for defying his fellow leaders in the European Union, multiple times at close range on Wednesday, in the most serious attack on a European leader in decades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Fico was shot after emerging from the House of Culture in Handlova, a town in central Slovakia, as he greeted a small crowd in Banikov Square. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, then airlifted to another hospital for emergency surgery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hours later, the deputy prime minister, Tomas Taraba, told the BBC that Mr. Fico\u2019s situation was no longer life-threatening, and he expected the prime minister to survive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The gunman, identified by Slovak news outlets as a 71-year-old poet, was immediately wrestled to the ground by security officers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The interior minister, Matus Sutaj Estok, said at a news conference that Mr. Fico was shot five times and that the initial evidence \u201cclearly points to a political motivation.\u201d Asked to name the attacker, he said, \u201cNot today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The attempted assassination stoked fears that Europe\u2019s increasingly polarized and venomous political debates had tipped into violence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Fico began his three-decade political career as a leftist but over the years shifted to the right. He served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018, before returning to power in elections last year. After being ousted amid street protests in 2018, he was re-elected on a platform of social conservatism, nationalism and promises of generous welfare programs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His opposition to military support for Ukraine, friendly relations with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and other positions have put him outside the European mainstream. Like his ally Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, Mr. Fico has been a frequent critic of the European Union.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Like Mr. Orban and the Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, Mr. Fico has delighted in presenting himself as a pugnacious fighter for the common man, a forthright enemy of liberal elites and a bulwark against immigration from outside Europe, particularly by Muslims.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His critics have accused Mr. Fico of undermining the independence of the news media, opposed his efforts to restrict foreign funding of civic organizations and called him a threat to democracy. They accuse Mr. Fico of seeking to take Slovakia back to the repressive days of the Soviet bloc.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Fico\u2019s political career appeared to be over after his ouster in 2018, but he found new support last year by promoting anti-L.G.B.T.Q. positions, attacking the European Union as a threat to national sovereignty and opposing the continued supply of weapons to Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In his tenure as prime minister, Slovakia became the first country to stop sending weapons to Ukraine, though nonmilitary aid continued.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His return to power last year mirrored a wider trend across much of Europe: the decline of support for center-left and center-right parties that calmly traded places after elections and agreed on most things.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The shooting was captured on videos, which show Mr. Fico, 59, approaching a small group of people behind a waist-high metal barrier, when an older man stepped forward and fired a handgun from just a few feet away.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On a video from Radio and Television of Slovakia, a public broadcaster, and verified by The New York Times, five apparent gunshots can be heard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With the first bang, Mr. Fico doubled over at the waist and fell backward onto a bench as more were heard. Security officers then hustled him into a black Audi several feet away, half-carrying him to the car\u2019s rear door.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/robertficosk\/posts\/pfbid0EnzcChX21jDQeWBw3SQy939exqAucVZiRPYCRFSiqaPig22NfJFae1pPrFZQP78Wl\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">A post<\/a> on the prime minister\u2019s official and verified Facebook page said that Mr. Fico was in \u201clife-threatening condition.\u201d \u201cThe next few hours will decide,\u201d the post said. Government officials did not say what part of his body was hit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There was no immediate comment from the police about the attack, the most serious attempt on the life of a European head of government since Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic of Serbia was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2003\/03\/13\/world\/serbs-premier-is-assassinated-led-in-reforms.html\" title=\"\">assassinated in 2003<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The shooting drew a chorus of condemnation from world leaders, including President Biden, who called it a \u201chorrific act of violence,\u201d and Mr. Putin, who lauded Mr. Fico as a \u201ccourageous and strong-minded man.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The president of Slovakia, Zuzana Caputova, whose position is largely ceremonial, said in a statement, \u201cThe shooting of the prime minister is first and foremost an attack on a human being \u2014 but it\u2019s also an attack on democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some of Mr. Fico\u2019s allies in Parliament suggested that his liberal opponents had created the atmosphere for the shooting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Michal Simecka, the chairman of the opposition party Progressive Slovakia, said he shared in the \u201chorror\u201d of the attack but warned against spreading \u201cfalse information\u201d about the assailant. In a post on the social-media platform X, he stressed that the attacker was not a member of his movement or connected to his party in any way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Fico <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/03\/15\/world\/europe\/slovakia-robert-fico-jan-kuciak.html\" title=\"\">stepped down as prime minister<\/a> in 2018, after weeks of mass demonstrations over the murders of a journalist, who was uncovering government corruption, and his fianc\u00e9e. Protesters said the government was not interested in solving the crime. Several people were later convicted of involvement in the murders, but a businessman accused of orchestrating them was acquitted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Reporting was contributed by <!-- -->Gaya Gupta<!-- -->, <!-- -->Pavol Strba<!-- -->, <!-- -->Daniel Victor<!-- -->, <!-- -->Lauren Leatherby<!-- -->, <!-- -->Matthew Mpoke Bigg<!-- --> and <!-- -->Matina Stevis-Gridneff<!-- -->.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/15\/world\/europe\/slovakia-prime-miniter-robert-fico-assassination-attempt.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A gunman shot Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia, who is known for defying his fellow leaders in the European Union, multiple times at close range on Wednesday, in the most serious attack on a European leader in decades. Mr. Fico was shot after emerging from the House of Culture in Handlova, a town in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/15\/multimedia\/15slovakia-fico-1-lzmp\/15slovakia-fico-1-lzmp-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[16643,11926,1105,896,1891,4357,51189],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51470"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51472,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51470\/revisions\/51472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}