Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico (pictured) is hospitalised after an assassination attempt.
Prime Minister of Slovakia
The prime minister of Slovakia, officially the chairman of the government of the Slovak Republic, commonly referred to in Slovakia as Predseda vlády or informally as Premiér, is the head of the government of the Slovak Republic. Officially, the officeholder is the third-highest constitutional official in Slovakia after the president of the Republic (appointer) and chairman of the National Council; in practice, the appointee is the country's leading political figure.
Robert Fico
Robert Fico is a Slovak politician who has served as the prime minister of Slovakia since 2023. He previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. He founded the left-wing political party Direction – Social Democracy in 1999 and has led the party since. Fico holds a record as the longest-serving prime minister in the country's history, having served for over 11 years. First elected to parliament in 1992, he was appointed the following year to the Czechoslovak delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Following his party's victory in the 2006 parliamentary election, he formed his first Cabinet. His political positions have been described as populist, left-wing and conservative.
Attempted assassination of Robert Fico
On 15 May 2024, Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico was shot and critically injured in the central Slovak town of Handlová, in front of its House of Culture after a government meeting. He was hospitalised and stabilised after emergency surgery. The suspect, 71-year-old Juraj Cintula, was detained by police at the scene. During interrogation, he stated that he acted primarily because of the Fico government's opposition to military assistance to Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.