Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico stated on Sunday that he observed striking parallels between the assault on Donald Trump and the one he endured in May. The former US president was targeted in an assassination attempt during a campaign event on Saturday. Fico, aged 59, was shot four times at close range following a government gathering in central Slovakia on May 15. He underwent two extensive surgeries at a nearby hospital and resumed his duties last week.
"The situation is almost identical," the Slovak leader commented on his official website. Fico, who leans towards nationalist policies, accused the liberal opposition in Slovakia of fomenting animosity towards him.
"If Trump's assailant spoke Slovak, reading newspapers like Dennik N, Sme, or Aktuality would have been enough to incite him to 'correct the situation,'" Fico remarked on Sunday. "Trump's political adversaries are attempting to muzzle him, and when that fails, they provoke the public to such an extent that someone desperate resorts to violence."
Fico heads a coalition government comprising his centrist Smer-SD party, the centrist Hlas party, and the far-right SNS party, governing the EU and NATO member state with a population of 5.4 million. He has also advocated for Slovakia to construct a barrier to halt the influx of "progressive and liberal ideologies," likening them to a malignant disease.
