WORLD
Who is Robert Fico, the Prime Minister of Slovakia?
Slovakia’s strong-man leader has been the target of a shooting in the north of the European country.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has been shot and wounded in the northern town of Handlova, according to local media reports. Fico, 59, sustained injuries after being hit by an unidentified number of gunshots and is receiving care in hospital.
Handlova lies approximately 90 miles northeast of the capital city, Bratislava
Who is Robert Fico?
Robert Fico is the current Prime Minister of Slovakia, having recently returned to power after his nationalist party won last year’s election. However, Fico’s premiership has raised concerns about the state of democracy and rule of law in Slovakia.
Since taking office, Fico has taken several concerning steps that echo the illiberal policies of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. This includes attempts to control the public media, abolishing a special prosecutor’s office that investigated corruption cases involving Fico’s allies, and parroting Russian propaganda.
Fico’s government has shunned independent media outlets and wants to remake the public broadcaster RTVS into a state-run TV channel. Thousands have protested these media control efforts.
His pro-Russian and anti-Western policies have also alarmed observers. His coalition halted military aid to Ukraine and he has made vitriolic attacks against journalists critical of his government. There are fears Slovakia may abandon its pro-EU stance under Fico and follow Hungary’s path away from a closer union.