Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, is an immensely divisive figure who has helped polarise his country. But Wednesday’s assassination attempt has rightly united figures from across the political spectrum and the world in condemnation. The shooting was not only an attack on the prime minister but, as his domestic opponents stressed, an attack on democracy itself.
The background and motivation of this attack are not yet fully known. Ministers have suggested that the suspect now in custody was a “lone wolf” who disagreed with the government’s justice and media policies. But the case is widely seen as a shocking manifestation of the deep ruptures in Slovakian society. “What happened yesterday was an individual act. But the tense atmosphere of hatred was our collective work,” warned the outgoing president, Zuzana Čaputová – an opponent of Mr Fico who is stepping down after herself receiving death threats. It will also fuel concerns about extremism and attacks on politicians elsewhere in the continent.
Mr Fico has veered from the centre left to the nationalist right, and from being pro-EU to taking an anti-western, pro-Putin position. He once campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, but has faced corruption allegations himself, and his government recently scrapped a special prosecutor’s office dealing with high-level corruption. Many have compared his recent politics to those of Hungary’s illiberal leader, Viktor Orbán, undermining the rule of law and civil society. His last term as prime minister ended abruptly amid a political crisis sparked by the killing of the investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee, Martina Kušnírová. Some fear this latest attack shows that the country has not learned its lesson from those murders.
But others in Europe must also take heed amid high-profile political attacks, polarisation and the rise of far-right parties, which are gaining ground electorally, entering government – as with Geert Wilders’ new coalition deal in the Netherlands – and are expected to surge in next month’s European parliamentary elections.
In Germany, where a neo-Nazi shot dead the CDU politician Walter Lübcke in 2019, there has been a sharp rise in political attacks this year. Green party politicians have faced the most aggression and intimidation, and local politicians are particularly under threat. Last November, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a co-founder of Spain’s far-right Vox party, was shot in the face in Madrid. The UK witnessed the murders of the Conservative MP David Amess and Labour MP Jo Cox only five years apart.
Aggressive rhetoric has also increased. In Germany, leaders of the far-right AfD (which has also complained of attacks on candidates) have talked of “hunting” opponents. Research suggests that violent political language is linked to physical violence. The words of politicians can increase division and legitimise extreme attitudes. In the US, political analysts have not only warned of rising attacks but of “a new reality: millions of Americans willing to undertake, support, or excuse political violence”.
Some of Mr Fico’s allies were quick to blame leftwing opponents for creating the atmosphere that led to the shooting. There is good reason to fear that it could be exploited by his Smer party to undermine critics and political rivals. Peaceful opposition and protest must not be conflated with criminal or extremist behaviour. But across Europe, violent rhetoric, as well as violent acts, must be closely monitored and firmly rejected.
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