Four days ahead of the June 9 European Parliament elections, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico released a 14-minute video message on Wednesday, his first appearance since nearly dying after a 71-year-old-man shot him five times, including his stomach, during a countryside political event last month.
“Dear friends! On May 15, an opposition political activist tried to assassinate me because of my political views. The medical team at the Roosevelt Hospital prevented the worst-case scenario, and now the hospital in Bratislava is doing everything possible for my recovery. If everything goes according to plan, I will be able to return to my official duties at the end of June,” Fico said in the surprise address.
He added: “It’s time for forgiveness. I have no hatred for the assassin, I don’t want to take revenge or seek compensation. I forgive him and leave him to sort out his thoughts.
“It is clear that he was only a messenger of evil political hatred from the failed and frustrated Slovak opposition,” the Slovak prime minister said.
In his speech, Robert Fico stressed that “throughout my long political career, I have always relied on the fundamental political right to dissent, and I have fundamentally rejected the policy of one correct opinion, which some of the great Western democracies aggressively advocate. Slovakia has refused to provide any military aid to Ukraine from state stocks, except humanitarian aid, and we continue to fundamentally prefer peace over war.”
Fico also spoke about the responsibility of the opposition and the press, mentioning George Soros by name, and stressed that the pro-peace position on Ukraine is not accepted at the international level nor in organizations.
“Dear friends! On May 15, I was not attacked by a madman. The opposition is abusing the fact that large democracies assert a single binding opinion on real foreign policy issues and reject the sovereign positions of small countries. In Slovak domestic politics, this manifests itself in tolerating violent and hateful excesses against legitimate government power at the international level without any comment,” Fico confirmed.
“Nobody forced them to do so, and the opposition failed to appreciate that their aggressive and hateful policies had led a section of society to a dead end, and it was only a matter of time before tragedy struck. The opposition must reflect on what has happened. If it continues like this, it will only lead to more victims,” the Slovak prime minister concluded.
