Robert Fico survived after being shot four times at close range in May
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico attended his cabinet meeting for the first time since the assassination attempt in May, according to the local TASR news agency. The meeting reportedly focused on an EU-backed reform plan and securing funds from 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, resumed his duties in early June but worked remotely as he was recovering from his injuries.
Last Friday, he participated in a commemoration of the arrival of ninth-century Byzantine missionaries Cyril and Methodius to Slovakia, a national holiday. This was his first public appearance since the incident.
During the event, he praised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s recent peace initiatives. Orban made surprise visits to Kiev and Moscow within days to discuss ways to resolve the Ukraine conflict. Although Brussels and some other EU members criticized the move, Fico commended Orban’s decision and stated he would have done the same if his health allowed it.
The Slovak prime minister is known for criticizing the EU’s stance on the Ukraine conflict. He also accused the parties that ruled Slovakia from 2020 to 2023 of following the demands of larger Western democracies, 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.