Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico Shot Five Times — My Brief Thoughts on Where Violent Politics Leads to
I’m sure many of you have now heard of the news that Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has been shot five times on Wednesday in an attempted assassination that many journalists seem to be reporting “shocked” the country.
I will not share any detailed reporting on the shooting itself as of now, as many are actively reporting on it. It seems there is also quite a bit of disinformation and misinformation about what we know, so I will try not to exacerbate what might be inaccurate statements here.
Here, I wanted to briefly express my thoughts before including some background about Slovakian politics to explain this trajectory in Slovakian politics. This is brief, however, because I am in the middle of finishing my dissertation thesis, so please excuse any rushed language and mistakes.
Assassinations should never be welcome and encouraged; it’s the duty of our politicians and people to condemn these acts because we live in a democratic society, despite all its ailments in Slovakia (I am Slovakian, so I’m able to comment on some of this hopefully with some degree of accuracy).
Slovakia’s opposition, at the helm with Michal Simecka and Progressive Slovakia, Progresivne Slovensko, have unilaterally…
