Slovak PM Robert Fico makes first public appearance since assassination attempt
- The prime minister, who survived being shot four times, says he would’ve joined Hungary’s Orban on his Moscow trip if his health allowed it
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico appeared in public on Friday for the first time since a May assassination attempt, railing in a speech against progressive ideologies and backing Hungarian leader Viktor Orban’s visit to Moscow.
Fico, who is recovering after being shot four times at close range in mid-May, made his appearance at an evening ceremony marking Saints Cyril and Methodius Day, a public holiday in Slovakia. He spoke standing at a podium at a castle ruins dating back over 11 centuries.
Fico, a four-time leftist prime minister who returned to power after winning an election last September, was shot when he greeted supporters at a government meeting in the central Slovak town of Handlova, leaving him needing hours of surgery. He has been recovering at home since the end of May.
The attack has deepened the polarisation in the central European country of 5.4 million.
Fico’s leftist-nationalist government has quickly shifted policy since taking power last year, including changing some criminal laws and cancelling a special prosecutor’s office, transforming the public broadcaster, and halting state military aid to Ukraine.
Opposition parties have battled Fico’s government over the changes while the European Union has watched for any damage to rule of law or media freedoms.
