Yesterday, a ‘lone wolf’ gunman attempted to assassinate the “pro-Trump” Prime Minister of Slovakia, PM Robert Fico. Fico is reportedly in critical but stable condition after five shots were fired at point-blank range. The AP cites “unconfirmed media reports” that it was a “71-year-old retiree” and “amateur poet” responsible for the attempt.
Unconfirmed reports online also suggest that the shooter was 71-year-old Juraj Cintula, a left-wing activist and a member of the “Movement Against Violence” organization. A video shared on X appears to show a beat-up Cintula giving a brief statement while in police custody.
+++UPDATE IM FALL FICO+++
Video des linken Attentäters Juraj Cintula aus der Polizeigewahrsam geleakt.‼️ pic.twitter.com/5hNW8WdDnB
— Theresa Finn (@Theresa_Finn_) May 16, 2024
ABC News quickly published an article titled, “Who is Robert Fico, the populist Slovak prime minister wounded in a shooting?” after the events yesterday.
In it, they claim that Fico was a “member of the Community Party before the dissolution of communism” and went on to be elected to “Slovakia’s parliament in 1992 as a member of the Party of the Democratic Left.”
Fico would become the chairman of the Smer party in 1999. The Smer Party is described as “left-populist,” while noting that Fico himself has been compared to “right-wing politicians like the nationalist prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban.”
From ABC News:
Fico’s return to power caused concern among his critics that he and his party — which had long been tainted by scandal — would lead Slovakia away from its pro-Western course. He vowed to pursue a “sovereign” foreign policy, promised a tough stance against migration and non-governmental organizations, and campaigned against LGBTQ+ rights.
He earned a reputation for his tirades against journalists, and faced criminal charges in 2022 for allegedly creating a criminal group and misuse of power, but the charges were dropped by Slovakia’s prosecutor general.
While Fico is opposed to gay marriage, which is currently not recognized in Slovakia but is not against the law, the extent of his LGBTQ policy seems to focus on stopping the promotion of sexual ideology in schools, according to France24. The outlet quoted a social media post where Fico said:
“Seventy three genders? Sick. Convert 12-year-old girls to boys? Sick.” France24 even goes as far as citing actions taken by Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis.
Allegations that Fico created a “criminal group and misuse of power” that were eventually dropped sound strikingly familiar to President Trump’s RICO (a criminal group?) charges in Fulton County for challenging the results in a corrupt election (misuse of power?). Interesting.
So how does US state-run Mockingbird Media reporting on Fico vary from that of other state-run media that is less ‘friendly’ to the US and its NATO allies? Keep in mind that Slovakia is both a member of NATO and the European Union.
RT (Russia Today) released their own assessment of Fico using direct quotes from the Slovakian Prime Minister.
On the cause of and progress of the war in Ukraine, RT cited Fico as saying the following:
- “I say it loud and clear and will do so: The war in Ukraine didn’t start yesterday or last year. It began in 2014 when the Ukrainian Nazis and fascists started to murder Russian citizens in Donbass and Lugansk.”
- “Russia completely controls the occupied territories militarily, Ukraine is not capable of any meaningful military counter-offensive, [and] it has become completely dependent on financial aid from the West with unforeseeable consequences for Ukrainians in the years to come.”
In regards to funding for Ukraine, Fico is on the record stating:
- “If the strategy is to continue to pour money there, €1.5 billion per month without any result, and we have to cut our own resources? After all, we have huge problems, and public money is in a difficult state.”
- “I will support zero military aid to Ukraine… An immediate halt to military operations is the best solution we have for Ukraine. The EU should change from an arms supplier to a peacemaker.”
After several proclamations from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that Ukraine will be a part of NATO, Fico remains a fierce opponent to the idea:
- “Ukraine may say: ‘We want to join NATO.’ This will be their own decision. We are saying that we will not ratify [the documents on Ukraine’s accession to NATO] in parliament because Slovakia needs a neutral Ukraine. Slovakia’s interests will be threatened if Ukraine becomes a NATO member.”
- “I will tell him [Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal] that I am against the membership of Ukraine in NATO and that I will veto it. It would merely be a basis for World War III, nothing else.”
- “I am against the membership of Ukraine in NATO and I will veto it. If Ukraine were in NATO, some conflicts will be constantly instigated there, and once a clash happens between Russia and a NATO member state, we will have a world war.”
But perhaps the most concerning quotes from Fico leading up to the assassination attempt are the following:
- “The atmosphere [at a combined meeting of EU and NATO officials on Ukraine held in Paris in February] was totally belligerent: to continue the war at all costs and do everything to make the war go on. I was very surprised that not a single word was said about some peace plan or a peace initiative. Yes, I can confirm that there are countries that are ready to send troops to Ukraine. There also are countries that say ‘never’ to that, and Slovakia is one of them. And there are some countries that say such ideas deserve consideration”
- “Ukraine is not a sovereign, independent country, Ukraine is under the absolute influence of the United States of America – and in this the EU is making a huge mistake, not wanting to keep a sovereign view of Ukraine and only agreeing to what the US says.”
- “If we can’t tell the truth at the Brussels table that, for example, anti-Russian sanctions didn’t work, that further destruction of Ukraine and killing Ukrainians is going nowhere, that the fanatic implementation of the Green Deal is killing our economies, that 20,000 casualties in the Gaza Strip cannot be overlooked just because Israel causes them, we are on a slippery slope that can be not only politically, but also economically destructive for Europe.”
Another article from RT quotes EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell saying that Russia is Europe’s “most existential threat” and that Putin will not stop at Ukraine if he succeeds:
“Today, Putin is an existential threat to all of us. If Putin succeeds in Ukraine, he will not stop there,” Borrell stated, adding that a Russian victory would undermine the security of Europe. However, “not everybody in the European Union shares this assessment,”
“Some European Council’s members say: ‘Well, no, Russia is not an existential threat. At least not for me. I consider Russia a good friend,’” Borrell said, without naming specific counties. “In a union governed by unanimity, our policies on Russia are always threatened by a single veto – one is enough.”
According to US media, Fico is a pro-Russian/anti-American Communist-turned-populist alleged criminal who plans to “take control of public media.”
However, according to Fico’s quotes cited by RT, he seems to be a Slovakia-First realist who understands the critical implications to his country, and the world, regarding a continued war between Ukraine and Russia that would eventually lead to WWIII. He is avidly against signing away Slovakia’s sovereignty to the World Health Organization in their Pandemic Treaty and has taken a firm stance against admitting Ukraine into NATO, a decision his single vote is capable of stopping.
And he was shot yesterday by an alleged ‘lone wolf’ gunman who supports progressive, pro-Ukraine ideologies.
But he survived.
