Berliner Boersenzeitung - Slovak PM 'able to speak' after shooting, suspected gunman charged

EUR -
AED 3.99352
AFN 76.892849
ALL 100.678478
AMD 421.527042
ANG 1.95871
AOA 948.774824
ARS 1009.08987
AUD 1.660687
AWG 1.957053
AZN 1.852644
BAM 1.95791
BBD 2.194364
BDT 127.69759
BGN 1.959086
BHD 0.409641
BIF 3130.973517
BMD 1.087251
BND 1.460474
BOB 7.510092
BRL 6.149608
BSD 1.086771
BTN 90.988637
BWP 14.725867
BYN 3.55673
BYR 21310.128938
BZD 2.19066
CAD 1.503615
CDF 3114.975873
CHF 0.960766
CLF 0.037328
CLP 1029.997244
CNY 7.883013
CNH 7.896898
COP 4385.08091
CRC 574.619133
CUC 1.087251
CUP 28.812164
CVE 110.376821
CZK 25.378194
DJF 193.52852
DKK 7.473811
DOP 64.329313
DZD 146.060375
EGP 52.475071
ERN 16.308772
ETB 62.830998
FJD 2.456047
FKP 0.837793
GBP 0.844927
GEL 2.939777
GGP 0.837793
GHS 16.844064
GIP 0.837793
GMD 73.661711
GNF 9366.091645
GTQ 8.422533
GYD 227.334946
HKD 8.487488
HNL 26.907992
HRK 7.510679
HTG 143.454567
HUF 391.666079
IDR 17726.71116
ILS 3.980618
IMP 0.837793
INR 91.051495
IQD 1423.773353
IRR 45778.723799
ISK 150.106358
JEP 0.837793
JMD 169.993162
JOD 0.77054
JPY 167.183441
KES 141.277875
KGS 91.373271
KHR 4457.803131
KMF 493.856845
KPW 978.526709
KRW 1505.702369
KWD 0.332536
KYD 0.905701
KZT 514.828916
LAK 24104.637033
LBP 97325.250091
LKR 329.313911
LRD 212.358809
LSL 19.840425
LTL 3.210371
LVL 0.657668
LYD 5.251658
MAD 10.704534
MDL 19.291318
MGA 4946.329502
MKD 61.688169
MMK 3531.350384
MNT 3751.01797
MOP 8.738957
MRU 43.048383
MUR 50.905526
MVR 16.689721
MWK 1884.530517
MXN 20.073966
MYR 5.063878
MZN 69.47536
NAD 19.840425
NGN 1735.25373
NIO 40.003102
NOK 11.989465
NPR 145.581859
NZD 1.846649
OMR 0.418421
PAB 1.086771
PEN 4.085001
PGK 4.263594
PHP 63.60534
PKR 302.482515
PLN 4.280174
PYG 8229.867402
QAR 3.964116
RON 4.978746
RSD 117.195274
RUB 93.474127
RWF 1429.039742
SAR 4.078958
SBD 9.215485
SCR 14.802649
SDG 637.129734
SEK 11.76542
SGD 1.459748
SHP 0.837793
SLE 24.840764
SLL 22799.123819
SOS 621.069181
SRD 31.531421
STD 22503.91041
SVC 9.509509
SYP 2731.752354
SZL 19.837374
THB 39.036295
TJS 11.520331
TMT 3.859743
TND 3.371616
TOP 2.593208
TRY 35.819395
TTD 7.377152
TWD 35.676024
TZS 2934.361675
UAH 44.619376
UGX 4053.367365
USD 1.087251
UYU 43.754327
UZS 13731.17375
VEF 3938625.59155
VES 39.750856
VND 27523.771126
VUV 129.080711
WST 3.048227
XAF 656.664534
XAG 0.038931
XAU 0.000455
XCD 2.938352
XDR 0.819683
XOF 656.664534
XPF 119.331742
YER 272.193802
ZAR 19.880724
ZMK 9786.571889
ZMW 28.392592
ZWL 350.094532
  • RBGPF

    -1.6500

    56.4

    -2.93%

  • SCS

    0.2000

    14.03

    +1.43%

  • NGG

    0.9700

    63.62

    +1.52%

  • BCC

    5.7500

    141.04

    +4.08%

  • BP

    0.0700

    35.25

    +0.2%

  • RELX

    0.5400

    46.54

    +1.16%

  • BTI

    0.4300

    35.16

    +1.22%

  • RYCEF

    0.1100

    5.68

    +1.94%

  • CMSC

    0.1050

    24.19

    +0.43%

  • RIO

    0.7300

    65.06

    +1.12%

  • GSK

    0.7900

    39.86

    +1.98%

  • VOD

    0.2000

    9.47

    +2.11%

  • JRI

    -0.1300

    12.41

    -1.05%

  • CMSD

    0.1550

    24.405

    +0.64%

  • BCE

    0.1900

    33.36

    +0.57%

  • AZN

    -0.3900

    78.13

    -0.5%

Slovak PM 'able to speak' after shooting, suspected gunman charged
Slovak PM 'able to speak' after shooting, suspected gunman charged / Photo: - - AFP

Slovak PM 'able to speak' after shooting, suspected gunman charged

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is able to speak Thursday but is still in a "difficult condition" a day after his shooting, officials said, as police charged a suspect in the attack they said was politically motivated.

Text size:

President-elect Peter Pellegrini briefed journalists a day after the shooting, which has prompted concern of further violence in the politically polarised nation just weeks before European parliament elections.

"He is able to speak but only a few sentences and then he is really, really tired... The situation is very critical," Pellegrini said outside the hospital in the central town of Banska Bystrica.

"The doctors asked me to make a really very short visit...," he stressed. "I told him that we stand behind him."

But he added that "very difficult hours and days" lay ahead for Fico.

Wednesday's shooting has sparked fears for the future in the already deeply polarised nation, as officials drew a link between the political situation and the suspect's motives.

Police charged the suspect in his shooting with attempted murder Thursday.

And Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said of the suspect: "This is a lone wolf whose actions were accelerated after the presidential elections since he was dissatisfied with its outcome."

President-elect Pellegrini, who won last month's vote, is a political ally of Fico.

- 'Circle of hatred' -

Pellegrini called for calm and urged political parties to halt campaigning for June's EU parliament election.

The biggest opposition party, centrist Progressive Slovakia, announced that it had already done so, and several other parties followed suit.

Slovakia's political scene has been divided for years between pro-Europeans and nationalist-leaning camps.

Disinformation and verbal attacks on social media featured heavily during the latest election campaign.

Pellegrini, who takes office in June, said in a joint statement with outgoing President Zuzana Caputova that Slovakia should avoid "further confrontation".

The two politicians represent rival political camps but Caputova said they wanted "to send a signal of understanding" as she urged an end to "the vicious circle of hatred".

Surgeons spent hours in the operating theatre, battling to save the 59-year-old leader's life after Wednesday's shooting, which happened as Fico was speaking to members of the public after a meeting.

Deputy prime minister Robert Kalinak said doctors had stabilised Fico's condition but said it "is still very serious as the injuries are complicated".

Footage just after the shooting showed security agents grabbing a wounded Fico from the ground and bundling him into a car, while other officers handcuffed a man on the pavement.

Fico, whose party won the general election last September, is a four-time prime minister and political veteran accused of swaying his country's foreign policy in favour of the Kremlin.

- Unprecedented attack -

Outside the hospital, shock mixed with outrage as residents of Banska Bystrica condemned the assault.

"I'm certainly afraid that such attacks will be repeated," Nina Stevulova, a 18-year-old student, said.

"There's no need to do such things. Feel free to throw a tomato or an egg at him or scold him that 'You are a thief or a murderer'," Karol Reichl, a former professional driver, told AFP.

"But don't come with a gun and shoot," the 69-year-old said.

Media reported that the suspected gunman was a 71-year-old writer.

Political analyst Miroslav Radek said the attack risked causing "further radicalisation of individuals and politicians in Slovakia".

"I am afraid that this attack may not have been the last," Radek told AFP.

The shooting came ahead of June's European parliament elections in which far-right parties are expected to make gains.

- Ukraine weapons -

Fico also headed the government in 2006-10 and 2012-18.

He was forced to resign in 2018 after an investigative journalist's murder exposed high-level corruption and sparked anti-government sentiment.

Since returning to office, Fico has made a string of remarks that have soured ties between Slovakia and neighbouring Ukraine after he questioned Ukraine's sovereignty.

After he was elected, Slovakia stopped sending weapons to Ukraine, invaded by Russia in 2022.

Following the shooting, MP Lubos Blaha from Fico's party lashed out against the prime minister's critics.

"You, the liberal media, and progressive politicians are to blame. Robert Fico is fighting for his life because of your hatred," Blaha said.

burs-mmp/amj/jj

(H.Schneide--BBZ)