Assassination attempt opens Slovakia’s wounds, some linked to PM Fico
Al Jazeera
Slovakia’s interior minister says the country is ‘on the edge of a civil war’ as political polarisation reaches dangerous heights.
As Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico fought for his life in a serious condition on Thursday, a political battle broke out over what had motivated a 71-year-old former security guard to shoot him.
Tomas Taraba, Fico’s deputy and Slovakia’s environment minister, initially accused the centre-left political opposition, saying it had “blood on its hands”.
Meanwhile, parliamentarians from Fico’s right-wing coalition held a news conference.
“They were saying, ‘Now we’re going to go after the media, and we are going to pass legislation. We will not be shy about this,” one person with knowledge of the event told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity. “It sounded quite threatening.”
The assassination attempt has highlighted deep divisions in Slovak society, and Fico has played his part in bringing them about.
