Slovakian Prime Minister Fico's First Speech After Surviving Assassination Attempt, Hints At Why It Happened

And the murky world of Europe and the West

A great returning speech from the Slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fico, after the assassination attempt on 15 May 2024.

After less than a month in hospital with serious injuries and repeated surgeries, Fico calmly forgives his attacker whilst describing the circumstances under which the assassination attempt happened. Worryingly, he warns of more violence if things don’t change.

I recommend you read or watch the whole speech. A transcript and the video is provided below.

Some key points include:

• He sees the attacker as a "messenger of evil and political hatred" from the opposition;

• He expects the opposition and media to downplay the severity of the attack;

• He rejects the idea that it was just an isolated act by a "lone madman";

• For months, he had warned about the increasing probability of violence against government politicians in Slovakia;

• He believes his pro-sovereignty stance on issues like the Ukraine war that goes against the "single correct opinion" promoted by major Western powers angered the opposition;

• Fico criticised major democracies’ interference in other countries' affairs and forced export of democracy;

• Historically, he has opposed the bombing of Belgrade, withdrawal from Iraq and mandatory migrant quotas. Now, he is advocating for peace over military aid in Ukraine and criticises the EU and NATO’s stance;

• The previous opposition government (2020-2023) abused power to eliminate the opposition through the legal system. Opposition were illegally detained and there were suspicious deaths;

• The West didn’t ask any questions because they wanted political forces that benefited foreign interests;

• After regaining power in 2023, his party reaffirmed a sovereign foreign policy not fully aligned with Western interests;

• The opposition has become increasingly hateful and aggressive, emboldened by a lack of consequences. There have been physical threats against high-ranking politicians and the opposition sends paid provocateurs;

• He sees the attack as an escalation of this aggressive opposition mindset that rejects differing opinions;

• Despite the trauma, he wants the tragedy to serve as a lesson about the dangers of such hatred and political violence;

• He calls for a return to democratic competition of differing views instead of trying to imprison or kill opponents;

Transcript:

Good day my dear friends,

On May 15, an activist of the Slovak opposition tried to assassinate me in Handlova because of my political views.

The great medical team at Roosevelt Hospital in Banská Bystrica prevented the worst.

Now the hospital of St. Michael in Bratislava is providing me with equally excellent medical care on an out-patient basis.

If everything goes as planned, I could gradually return to work at the turn of June and July.

It's time for me to make the first move.

And that is forgiveness.

I feel no hatred towards the stranger who shot me.

I will not take any legal action against him, nor will I seek damages or compensation.

I forgive him and will let him sort out what he did and why he did it in his own head.

In the end, it is evident that he was only a messenger of evil and political hatred, which the politically unsuccessful and frustrated opposition developed in Slovakia to unmanageable proportions.

It is to be expected that the anti-government media, foreign-funded political non-governmental organizations and the opposition will begin to downplay my assassination attempt.

That it was only an attack by a deranged person, that there were no connections between him and the opposition, that the harm to my health was not serious.

I have always protected my privacy, so even now I will limit myself to just stating that the attack caused serious damage to my health, repeated surgeries, a lot of pain and suffering.

It will be a minor miracle if I return back to work in a few weeks.

I want to ask the anti-government media, especially those co-owned by the financial structure of G. Soros, not to go down this path and to respect not only the gravity of reasons for the attempted murder, but also the consequences of this attempt.

And again I challenge them to conduct the already known test by Robert Fico.

How would they behave if something similar happened to one of the leaders of the Slovak opposition and the attacker was a person with connections to SMER - Slovak Social Democracy.

I have no reason to believe this was an attack by a lone madman.

For several months now, I have been publicly communicating that the probability of an assassination of a government politician in Slovakia is approaching certainty.

I spoke about it publicly in the media and at press conferences, I said it to all EU and NATO ambassadors in Slovakia, I also opened the topic at several bilateral meetings with my partners.

A few weeks ago, at a cabinet meeting, I even asked the ministers to avoid situations involving crowds.

No, I had no intelligence reports. But my experience after 32 years in politics warned me.

During my long political career, I have always relied on the basic political right to a different opinion, and I fundamentally disagree with the single-correct-opinion policy that some major Western democracies are aggressively promoting today.

I reject interference in the internal affairs of other countries, or the forced export of democracy to countries that have decided to go their own way.

Slovakia does not have the economic and military resources to enforce its interests by force.

We must therefore constantly strive for strict adherence to international law and have the courage to call things for what they are, no matter how large a country they relate to.

If a small country like Slovakia has political leaders with such fortitude, it's position on international stage is not always easy.

Not all major democracies were happy when I refused the bombing of Belgrade, or withdrew Slovak soldiers from Iraq,

blocked the introduction of mandatory quotas for illegal migrants, or radically rejected the proposal to abolish the right of veto for EU member states.

A self-confident sovereign Slovak foreign policy, although based on membership in the EU and NATO, but oriented towards all four corners of the world, is simply not in vogue.

The situation in the relations between my political representation and partners in the EU and NATO escalated after the Russian attack on Ukraine, where we refused to provide Ukraine with any military aid from state stocks, except for humanitarian aid, and where we continue to fundamentally prefer peace to war.

It is precisely the conflict in Ukraine that in the EU and NATO has elevated even more, literally 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.

Anyone who does not identify with this single mandatory opinion is immediately labeled as a Russian agent, and politically marginalized internationally.

It is a cruel observation, but the right to a different opinion has ceased to exist in the EU.

After winning the parliamentary elections in September 2023, when SMER - SSD managed to form the fourth government, absurdities began to occur.

The Party of European Socialists, of which SMER-SSD is a long-time member, instead of congratulating them on the election victory, suspended SMER-SSD's membership, demonstrably because of different views on the war in Ukraine and our reservations towards the support of extreme views on ethical issues.

During the V4 meeting in Prague, there was an attempt, fortunately unsuccessful, to break up this important structure of regional cooperation with the justification that Slovakia and Hungary have differing views on some international topics.

The reluctance of some large democracies to respect the concept of a sovereign and self-confident Slovak foreign policy became grist to the mill of the Slovak opposition, which came to power in 2020 after grossly politically abusing the still unsolved murder of a journalist and his girlfriend against my third government in 2016 to 2020.

The government, which was formed by the opposition in 2020-2023, fully submitted to the interests of large countries and, above all, after the start of the war in Ukraine.

it immediately adopted the concept of the single correct opinion and literally looted the Slovak armed forces' stockpiles, significantly reducing Slovakia's defense capabilities and joined the camp of the countries promoting a military solution to the conflict in Ukraine.

In return, the Slovak government could do as it pleased.

Between 2020 and 2023, there was a widespread abuse of the penal code to liquidate the opposition, opposition representatives were accused and detained without evidence, there were instances of suspicious deaths in custody.

As an opposition leader, I was accused four times without any reason being given for my political activities.

For three years, we have been drawing the EU's attention to the situation in Slovakia, yet not a single word of criticism was uttered regarding the quality of the rule of law in Slovakia and the antics of the government in abusing the penal code to eliminate the opposition.

No one, neither in the EU nor from the representatives of the individual large Western democracies, even asked about the death of the lawyer Krivocenko, General Lucanský and about the demonstrably manipulated criminal proceedings.

For large democracies, it was much more important than the rule of law to have political forces available in Slovakia that were and are ready to do anything for the benefit of foreign interests, even if it is in direct contradiction to Slovakia's national priorities.

After the parliamentary elections in September 2023, when SMER - SSD formed the fourth government, together with its coalition partners, it reaffirmed the policy of a sovereign and self-confident Slovak foreign policy oriented towards all four corners of the world.

The current opposition, encouraged by the protective hand of the major democracies in 2020-2023, continued to attack and accuse the government.

The opposition knew and knows that the promotion of the right to a different opinion and a self-confident and sovereign Slovak foreign policy does not have much support in international organizations of which Slovakia is a member.

And at the same time, it made clear and still doing so that it is a supporter of the single mandatory opinion, it is in favor of the war in Ukraine, it is in favor of canceling the right of veto, it considers Russia and China to be mortal enemies.

Since the September 2023 election there is again no one holding up a mirror to the growing and well-fed opposition's aggressiveness, neither the media, nor the non-governmental organizations, nor the head of state, nor Brussels, nor NATO.

Physical threats against high-ranking government politicians, as was the case for example of members of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Erik Kalinák and his wife, or Lubos Blaha, therefore became an acceptable standard for aggressive representatives of the opposition.

The hatred and aggressiveness of the current opposition, covered and tolerated by opinion-forming media, non-governmental organizations funded by foreign countries and unfortunately without any response from international organizations, peaked after the successful presidential election of coalition candidate Peter Pellegrini in the spring of this year.

The "Bratislava cafe" aggressively, often physically, attacks government officials, the opposition sends paid provocateurs to national holiday celebrations who grossly insult constitutional officials, actors after their political speeches at opposition rallies, attack government officials during theater performances or RTVS live broadcasts are being grossly misused.

The opposition shows no respect for the outcome of the democratic parliamentary elections, or for the authorities.

And it should also be added that after the parliamentary elections in September 2023, the SMER-SSD government did not proceed with any expected revenge for the antics of the opposition between 2020 and 2023, when it was in power.

Dear friends, on May 15 in Handlova, it was not an attack by some madman.

The opposition abuses how large democracies enforce a single mandatory opinion on major foreign policy issues and reject the sovereign positions of small countries.

In domestic Slovak politics, this manifests itself in such a way that any violent and hateful excesses against legitimate governmental power are tolerated at the international level without any comment.

The opposition was unable to assess, because no one forced them to do so, where their aggressive and hateful politics had led section of the society and it was only a matter of time before a tragedy would occur.

Today I already concluded that after what happened to me on May 15, as I did not approach a crowd in Handlova, but only a small group of people waving friendly, I should be full of anger, hatred and revenge.

Opposition to a politician you disagree with is not resolved by shooting him.

On the contrary.

I would like to express my belief that all the pain I have gone through and am still going through will serve something good.

People could see with their own eyes what horror can happen if someone is not able to democratically compete and respect other opinion.

I'm no political angel either. I can be tough.

Even the governments I lead were not and are not perfect.

Certainly, many things could be done differently.

And precisely the offer to do things differently and better, to have different opinions, must be the elementary basis of any meaningful democratic competition.

The offer cannot be to imprison or maliciously kill the opponent for no reason whatsoever.

The opposition will have to think about this.

If it continues as it is now, the horror of May 15th, which you all had the opportunity to see practically live, will continue and there will be more victims. I don't doubt it, not for a second.

Dear friends, in conclusion, I would like to reiterate my thanks to the doctors and medical staff in Banská Bystrica.

They were great.

I can't forget the medics in Handlova and the air ambulance service.

Thanks also to you for all the expressions of support.

I am only now learning about the extent of this support and it has been and still is incredible. I really appreciate it.

I believe that society will calm down and that we will meet soon in a meaningful and peaceful manner.

All the best and let's keep our fingers crossed.