Due to the assassination attempt on Fico: the President of Slovakia and her successor addressed citizens together

Zuzana Čaputová and newly elected President Peter Pellegrini during a joint statement/Photo by Diana Michaličová/Aktuality.sk< p _ngcontent-sc140 class="news-annotation">The current President of Slovakia Zuzana Caputova and the newly elected President Peter Pellegrini, who has not yet taken office, jointly addressed citizens. They made several statements in connection with the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Robert Fico.

This was reported by the Slovak publication Aktuality.

Zuzana Caputova and Peter Pellegrini addressed the people of Slovakia

In a joint statement at the presidential palace, President Zuzana Caputova and newly elected head of state Peter Pellegrini condemned yesterday's attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico.

“We stand here together because we want to send a message understanding in this tense situation,” the president said at the beginning.

She added that differences of opinion in society are natural, but she and Pellegrini agreed on the need to calm situation.

She said yesterday's attack on the prime minister was a “great human tragedy” as well as an attack on the democratic establishment.

The newly elected president noted that he was “scared” by what political polarization could lead to, and recalled that Fico took his position as a result of democratic parliamentary elections.

Both leaders called on citizens and politicians not to blame each other for what happened, not to try to play on it and to seek mutual understanding.

They said they planned to gather leaders of the political parties represented in parliament for a meeting at the presidential palace to discuss with them how to reduce tension and calm the situation.

What is known about Fico’s attacker: briefly

• Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was attacked during a government retreat. This happened on Wednesday, May 15.

• The Slovak private TV channel Joj and the Dennik N portal claim that Robert Fico was shot by a 71-year-old man from the city of Levice in the west of the country. Journalists note that the shot was fired from a short-barreled bullet gun, which the man legally owned. It was noted that the suspect is a writer and one of the founders of the literary club DÚHA Juraj Chintula.

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Note that the shooter was detained immediately after he committed the attack. The man tried to escape, but he was caught by law enforcement officers and eyewitnesses.

• Subsequently, a video was shown online in which Suspected attacker Juraj Chintula is asked about his motives for shooting Robert Fico. The Slovak writer stated that he did this because he did not agree with the government's policies.

• Note that according to According to media reports, the attacker may have been linked to the pro-Russian paramilitary group Slovenskí Branci. for the deliberate murder of the country's Prime Minister Robert Fico. Now the pensioner faces a penalty of 25 years in prison or life imprisonment.