Slovak authorities on Thursday called for restraint and called on political parties and the people to urgently defuse tensions in the country's deeply polarized country, following an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Roberto Fico.
Slovakia was already bitterly divided between Fico's supporters, who support right-wing nationalism and anti-immigration policies, and his opponents, who accuse him of eroding democracy.
Authorities have not identified the perpetrators but said the attack appeared to be politically motivated. The suspect, identified as a “lone wolf,” was charged with premeditated murder.
On Thursday, the country's outgoing president Zuzana Caputova stressed that the attack was an “act of an individual” and said she would invite leaders of Slovakia's main political parties to a meeting to “calm down the situation.”
“We have our differences, but let's not spread hatred,” she said in a statement alongside President-elect Peter Pellegrini.
Mr Pellegrini echoed his calls for escalating rhetoric to be tempered, but called on the country's political parties to temporarily suspend their campaigns or “calm down” in the run-up to next month's European Parliament elections. . He told a news conference that campaigning inevitably involves conflict and “strong opinions.”
“We don't need more confrontation,” he said, adding that “civilized discussion” was important before voting.
While questions remain about Slovakia's security forces' response to the shooting, Michal Å imetzka, head of the opposition Progressive Slovakia Party, expressed confidence that authorities would carry out a “thorough investigation into their actions.”
“Instead of blaming each other, we need to de-escalate the tension and polarization in our society, especially today, and make room for an investigation into this horrific act,” he said on social media.
He then welcomed Mr Pellegrini's proposal to suspend campaigning for the European Parliament elections, saying his party had done so and was committed to “calming down the situation” in Slovakia.
Police have asked news organizations and social media users to turn off comments on articles and posts about the attack and said they are monitoring online activity. Police said on Thursday that some comments on Facebook condoned violence against Fico, adding that police action would be taken if necessary.
Slovakia's often toxic divisions have been nourished by a particularly toxic online environment, where politicians have won large followings with their intemperate attacks on domestic critics and Western leaders.
Fico unexpectedly returned as prime minister last year after his Smer party narrowly won a closely contested parliamentary election.
After the shooting, politicians across all political lines criticized each other. Smer vice-chairman Lubos Blaha said the opposition and what he called the “liberal media” had “erected a gallows” for the prime minister by “spreading too much hatred”. Rudolf Furiak of the far-right Slovak People's Party, an ally of the government, said progressives and journalists “have the blood of Robert Fico on their hands.”
Political temperatures in Slovakia have risen to a new high in recent months, as Mr. Fico's government seeks to stamp out what it sees as liberal bias and crack down on non-governmental organizations it views as pawns of foreign interference on state television. We are promoting a review of the system.