Slovak PM in first government meeting since assassination attempt – media

Robert Fico survived after being shot four times at close range in May

Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, has taken part in his cabinet’s meeting for the first time since the May assassination attempt, the local TASR news agency reported on Tuesday. The session was reportedly focused on an EU-backed reform plan agenda as well as drawing funds provided by Brussels.

Bratislava has not officially commented on the report. The 59-year-old prime minister, who survived after a gunman shot him four times at close range, returned to his duties in early June, but was fulfilling them remotely as he was still recovering from his injuries.

Last Friday, he participated in a commemoration of the arrival of ninth-century Byzantine missionaries Cyril and Methodius to Slovakia, which is a national holiday in the country. It was his first public appearance since the incident.

At that time, he also praised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s latest peace initiatives. Orban made surprise visits to Kiev and Moscow within the span of just several days to discuss ways to resolve the Ukraine conflict. The move drew criticism from Brussels and some other EU members, however, Fico lauded Orban’s decision and said he would have gone too, had his health allowed it.

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The Slovak prime minister has been known from criticizing the EU stance on the Ukraine conflict. He also accused the parties that ruled Slovakia from 2020 to 2023 of doing whatever larger Western democracies demanded, including treating Russia and China as “mortal enemies” and “looting” Slovak military stockpiles to provide weapons to Ukraine.

In June, he stated that Kiev’s Western backers “do not want peace” and only provoke new rounds of tensions. According to him, NATO “sanctified the concept of the single correct opinion – namely that the war in Ukraine must continue at any cost in order to weaken the Russian Federation.”

Earlier, Slovakia’s Special Criminal Court stated that Fico’s shooter was largely motivated by his government’s decision not to send arms to Ukraine.