Previously undisclosed details of the assassination attempt on Robert Fico have been shared by his party colleague, Slovak MP Erik Kaliňák. According to the Smer-SD politician, the prime minister’s small intestine was shot through five times by the assailant. ‘I was at the scene, talking to the doctors, and it was millimetres that decided whether something major would be damaged and whether [the wounds] would be fatal,’ explained Kaliňák.
According to the government office,
Fico’s condition is improving day by day.
As reported by Hungarian Conservative, Robert Fico was shot on 15 May in the town of Handlová (Nyitrabánya in Hungarian). Fico was rushed to hospital by helicopter, where he underwent a nearly four-hour-long life-saving operation. According to POLITICO, doctors reportedly removed part of Fico’s small intestine due to heavy bleeding into his abdominal cavity. The Slovak PM underwent another surgery two days after the assassination attempt.
The shooter was identified as Juraj Cintula, a 71-year-old poet and writer from Levice (Léva), and was immediately detained by Fico’s security detail.
The attack was clearly politically motivated,
as Cintula stated during police interrogation that his decision to carry out the assassination was made after the presidential election in April. On 16 May, he was formally charged with attempted murder, which can carry a life sentence.
According to press reports, Cintula was formerly affiliated with radical right-wing organizations, but his political views have changed over the years. In 2019, he supported Zuzana Čaputová, the Progressive Slovakia presidential candidate. Slovak media identified Cintula at mass protests against Fico’s government in the months and weeks leading up to the shooting. The perpetrator reportedly disagreed with some of Fico’s policies.
The tragic events shocked the international community. On behalf of the Hungarian government, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was the first to react. ‘I was deeply shocked by the heinous attack against my friend, Prime Minister Robert Fico. We pray for his health and quick recovery! God bless him and his country!’ PM Orbán wrote on X.
US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin were among the first leaders to wish Fico a speedy recovery after the assassination attempt.
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