While checking mail addressed personally to the Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico, employees of the Office for the Protection of Constitutional Officials and Diplomatic Missions came across an envelope that caught their attention.
Subsequent inspection showed that it contained a ball. According to the Slovak publication Noviny.sk, the letter came from an unknown sender.
A spokesman for the regional police in Bratislava, Michal Šaiff, confirmed the event, saying that “at the initiative of members of the Office for the Protection of Constitutional Officials and Diplomatic Missions, police officers from the relevant department under the jurisdiction of the regional police headquarters in Bratislava are handling the case.”
The assassination attempt took place on May 15. He was shot several times after he went out to congratulate fans after a work meeting in the town of Handlova. The shooter was immediately detained. He was reportedly 71-year-old writer and political activist Juraj Cintula. He explained his actions by disagreeing with government policy and admitted guilt.
Fico was hospitalized in serious condition after the assassination attempt.
Fico has long been seen as a divisive politician both within Slovakia and abroad. He returned to power for a fourth time in 2023 when his left-wing party, Course – Social Democracy, won parliamentary elections in September.
Fico’s critics have pointed out that Slovakia under his leadership could abandon its pro-Western course and follow the example of Hungary under Viktor Orban. The Hungarian prime minister has been called the European leader most sympathetic to Russia. Thousands of people have repeatedly held rallies in the capital and throughout Slovakia against Fico’s policies.
Source: Racurs
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