"Robo, come here!" The order was followed by five shots, interrupted only by the government's security service, who pounced immediately – but too late. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico collapsed, before being whisked away in panic, bent over, in a black limousine. It all happened so quickly that many of the Slovaks who were gathered outside the House of Culture in Handlova, a small town in the center of the country, on Wednesday, May 15, did not immediately seem to realize that anything had happened.

It was only when the shooter was tackled to the ground and handcuffed that they understood. Anger mounted. "Asshole," "Kill him now," shouted the few pensioners who went to support the head of government at the Council of Ministers meeting he chose to hold in Handlova, where his party, the SMER – SD, was also supposed to hold a rally for the European elections in June.

Transported immediately by helicopter to the nearby town of Banska Bystrica, the 59-year-old leader was hit by "several bullets," according to the government, including one in the abdomen. He was discharged late on Wednesday evening after several hours of surgery. His condition is said to be stable. "We believe that he will be strong enough to recover from the trauma," said a visibly moved Slovak defense minister Robert Kalinak, speaking from the hospital early in the evening.

Described as an "attack on democracy" by Slovak President Zuzana Caputova – the president-elect, Peter Pellegrini, will be inaugurated on June 15 – the attack was an unprecedented episode of violence in the history of the small Central European country with a population of 5.5 million.

According to Slovak media, the man arrested was a 71-year-old from a small town an hour's drive from Handlova. A former supermarket security guard, he founded a small literature club and wrote poetry in his spare time, but never made it. Seven years ago, he posted a video on YouTube in which he said he wanted to launch a political party "against violence," while also having published texts deeply hostile to migrants and Roma. In 2016, he also frequented a group of pro-Russian paramilitary militiamen, but in recent months has also taken part in pro-European demonstrations.

Without more detailed information, this complex profile left the door open to speculation on Wednesday evening. In a video shared on social media likely by police officers, lasting only a few seconds, the gunman appears with a swollen face and simply states that he "does not agree with the government's policy," referring in particular to the current attempt by the ruling majority to take control of public television and the recent dismissal by the authorities of the president of Slovakia's judicial council, Jan Mazak.

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