The Slovakian prime minister, Robert Fico, is in a stable condition and communicating after last week’s assassination attempt, doctors have said, as the country continues to grapple with the political fallout from the shooting.
On Monday, the FD Roosevelt hospital in Banská Bystrica said Fico’s conditiond was “stable”. “He is clinically improving, communicating and his inflammatory markers are gradually decreasing,” it said, adding: “The prime minister remains in our care.”
Slovakia’s police force said it was continuing increased security measures including enhanced patrols around schools and public places such as shopping centres and newsrooms.
The suspected gunman, identified by the country’s media as 71-year-old Juraj Cintula, an amateur poet and former security guard, has been charged with attempted premeditated murder.
On Sunday, Slovakia’s interior minister, Matúš Šutaj Eštok, said the suspect may not, as previously alleged, have been a “lone wolf” and that an investigation team had been created to examine whether that was the case.
Eštok noted that the suspect’s internet communications were deleted two hours after the assassination attempt. This indicated “the crime may have been committed by a certain group of people”, the minister added.
Slovakia continues to reel from the shock of the attack. In the hours after the shooting, a number of senior politicians from the governing coalition blamed the opposition and media for whipping up hate, sparking concerns about the possibility of deepening polarisation in an already divided country.
In a video message on Sunday, the president-elect and Fico ally, Peter Pellegrini, called for calm.
“Past few days and press conferences have shown that some politicians are simply incapable of basic self-reflection, even after such a huge tragedy,” he said.
“It seems that the time has not come yet for a roundtable with representatives of all parliamentary parties. It’ll hopefully occur sometime later.”
Pellegrini added: “I will continue to call on political parties, opinion forming personalities, community organisations and the media, urging them to act responsible.”
Michal Šimečka, the leader of the opposition Progressive Slovakia, stressed over the weekend his concern about deepening tensions.
“I am sad to see that several politicians – both from the coalition and opposition – seem to not realise the seriousness of the situation and continue to add fuel to the fire,” he wrote on social media on Sunday.
“They paint a picture of collective guilt, as if the media or the opposition are to blame for the assassination. At the same time, they know that the culprit is the assassin, who was a lone wolf and is currently in custody. Blaming like that is the last thing we need right now.”
