2024-09-09 10:14:31
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was seriously wounded in a shooting earlier this year, warned that there could be another assassination attempt, DPA reported.
The populist Fico accused his opponents of inciting hatred and violence against the government in a comment on the public television Es Te Ve Er, BTA reported.
“I am 100% convinced that there will be another attempt to kill a representative of the government if the opposition and some media do not stop what they are doing,” Fizo said.
The Slovak prime minister was shot on May 15 while meeting with supporters after a cabinet meeting in the small town of Handlova. The perpetrator, a pensioner, was arrested and said he acted out of hatred for Fico and his politics, with his rhetoric reminiscent of that of the opposition media, DPA noted.
Since the assassination attempt, police protection measures have been stepped up, complicating a possible new attack, Fizzo said. “But it could happen that someone targets a gathering of voters of the government parties, for example. I’m afraid of that,” he said.
Fico is the leader of Smer, the largest party in the ruling coalition.
The Prime Minister and other politicians from the ruling coalition have repeatedly accused the liberal opposition and the media of being responsible for the attack in May, DPA commented.
They claim that the disinformation of the opposition and the demonization of the ruling parties with epithets such as “mafia” and “criminals” have created an aggressive climate.
But the opposition accuses the government of using the attack to silence criticism of its policies.