Slovakia PM Robert Fico shooting: Minister says 'lone wolf' charged

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico shooting: Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said that an initial investigation found “a clear political motivation” behind the attack on Mr. Fico while he was attending a government meeting in a former coal mining town. However, he said on May 16 that the suspect charged was a lone wolf who “did not belong to any political groups.”

The Slovak Interior Minister said on May 16 that a “lone wolf” has been charged in the shooting that seriously wounded Prime Minister Robert Fico and prompted soul-searching among leaders in the deeply divided society.

Mr. Fico was in serious but stable condition on May 16, a hospital official said, after the populist leader was hit multiple times in an attempt on his life that shook the small country and reverberated across the continent weeks before European elections.

The attempted assassination has shocked the small central European nation, with many blaming the attack in part on extreme political polarization that has divided the country.

Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said on May 15 that an initial investigation found “a clear political motivation” behind the attack on Mr. Fico while he was attending a government meeting in a former coal mining town. However, he said on May 16 that the suspect charged was a lone wolf who “did not belong to any political groups.”

The Minister did not specify what the motivation was. Mr. Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond, and his return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American message led to even greater worries among fellow European Union members that he would abandon his country's pro-Western course.

The attempt on Mr. Fico’s life came at a time of high division in Slovakia, as thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and around the country to protest his policies. It also comes just ahead of June elections for the European Parliament.

Slovakia's outgoing and next Presidents — political rivals — appeared together in an appeal for Slovaks to overcome their increasingly tense political differences for the good of the country.