Slovak president-elect calls to suspend EU election campaigning after shooting

5 months ago 17

Slovakia’s president-elect Peter Pellegrini and Prime Minister Robert Fico’s coalition partner on Thursday (16 May) called on all national parties to suspend or tone down campaigning ahead of European Parliament elections after Wednesday’s assassination attempt.

“I am calling on all political parties in Slovakia to temporarily suspend or considerably reduce their European election campaign,” Pellegrini said in a statement, adding Slovakia should avoid “further confrontation”.

Pellegrini addressed his message not only to politicians but also to opinion leaders and the media, insisting that politicians should not use the assassination attempt to score political points and to further reinforce the country’s extreme polarisation.

“If there is anything the people of Slovakia urgently need today, it is at least a basic consensus of the Slovak political representation. And if not a consensus, at least a civilised discussion”, he said.

Fico is in a serious but stable condition, announced Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák earlier this morning.

National unity

President-elect Pellegrini and acting President Zuzana Čaputová agreed to jointly invite all leaders of parliamentary parties to the Presidential Palace shortly.

“We are standing here together because we want to send a signal of understanding in this tense situation. We are politicians who agree on what is most important for society. And that is to calm the situation down,” the outgoing president said.

“We are in complete agreement in condemning all violence. Yesterday’s attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico is a great human tragedy, but also an attack on democracy,” Čaputová said.

She described the shooting of Robert Fico as an individual act but added that the responsibility for hatred in society lies within all citizens.

Politically motivated

The alleged shooter, a 71-year-old man, a writer, poet, and member of the Slovakian Writers’ Association, has been charged with attempted premeditated murder and faces 25 years in prison or life imprisonment if convicted.

After the attack, a video was leaked showing the attacker saying he disagreed with the government’s policies. This footage was apparently taken at the police station.

The police have not yet commented on how such a leak could have occurred.

“I do not agree with the politics of the government,” the shooter said in the video. “Mass media liquidated. Why is RTVS being attacked?”

The shooter alluded to Fico’s much-criticised reform of the Slovak public broadcaster RTVS and to the chairman of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic, Ján Mazák, who was recently dismissed from his post.