BREAKING: Slovak PM Robert Fico wounded/shot in the stomach in apparent assassination attempt

[Hindsight was 2020]

Dude is reported to have been a member of Progressive Slovakia



Since when would a poet who once founded a political party based on no violence ethic and today part of Progressive Slovakia be a former Russian paramilitary 8 years ago?

Oh that's right... this is what Estrella doesn't share or doesn't want you to know because they support this party.

Quelle surprise.

There is no confirmation he’s apart of this part either so don’t be so freaking snarky, right now all that’s known is his name, age, the vid above saying he did it over domestic reasons and his anti-migrant writings

There is no logical sense in assuming Russia did this, other than bad faith assumptions. It would be pure idiocy by Russians to try to assassinate him. Literally 30 other European leaders a Russian could kill before him... How stupid would one be to try to kill one of your only soft allies in Europe you still have left...

Not believing conspiracy theories or twitter sources µ especially on conflicts like this would be a good start.

I don’t think Russia did it but there is logical reasons they would do it so not it’s not completely illogical

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Dude is reported to have been a member of Progressive Slovakia
Since when would a poet who once founded a political party based on no violence ethic and today part of Progressive Slovakia be a former Russian paramilitary 8 years ago?

Do tell us where you found this.

Also twitter (already being widely spread), but source apparently is Slovakian media and i don't speak Slovakian

https://twitter.com/CaptCoronado/status/1790784295939838021

Maybe you could help verify this, but i don't really trust your word either because of you claiming the exact opposite.

https://twitter.com/Megatron_ron/status/1790797671491391549

Megatron also has shared a vid with him in it

[Hindsight was 2020]

Dude is reported to have been a member of Progressive Slovakia
Since when would a poet who once founded a political party based on no violence ethic and today part of Progressive Slovakia be a former Russian paramilitary 8 years ago?

Do tell us where you found this.

Also twitter (already being widely spread), but source apparently is Slovakian media and i don't speak Slovakian

https://twitter.com/CaptCoronado/status/1790784295939838021

Maybe you could help verify this, but i don't really trust your word either because of you claiming the exact opposite.

I’m sorry you’re giving Estrella crap then post this as a source? This is legit pot calling the kettle black stuff

[Estrella]

Dude is reported to have been a member of Progressive Slovakia
Since when would a poet who once founded a political party based on no violence ethic and today part of Progressive Slovakia be a former Russian paramilitary 8 years ago?

Do tell us where you found this.

Also twitter (already being widely spread), but source apparently is Slovakian media and i don't speak Slovakian

https://twitter.com/CaptCoronado/status/1790784295939838021

Maybe you could help verify this, but i don't really trust your word either because of you claiming the exact opposite.

Truly the best source of information.

https://twitter.com/captcoronado/status/1790465627041206475

[Estrella]

Ftr, the source for the assassin being a member of a far-right paramilitary group is the group’s official Facebook, which you could see linked in the tweet.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

And simply suggesting i'm one should be a bannable offense.

No.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

And simply suggesting i'm one should be a bannable offense.

No.

There are a number of attacks that are not tolerated on the forum.

Accusing someone of a fascist - when people know very well i'm not - is a slur.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Ftr, the source for the assassin being a member of a far-right paramilitary group is the group’s official Facebook, which you could see linked in the tweet if you could take off those Putinist blinkers of yours.

You have no official credible source, period.

[Hindsight was 2020]

And simply suggesting i'm one should be a bannable offense.

No.

There are a number of attacks that are not tolerated on the forum.

Accusing someone of a fascist - when people know very well i'm not - is a slur.

In that case red velvet needs to be sanctioned for calling everyone who supports Ukraine “pro-war”

[LAKISYLVANIA]

And simply suggesting i'm one should be a bannable offense.

No.

There are a number of attacks that are not tolerated on the forum.

Accusing someone of a fascist - when people know very well i'm not - is a slur.

In that case red velvet needs to be sanctioned for calling everyone who supports Ukraine “pro-war”

Why? What does that have anything to do with calling someone fascist?

[LAKISYLVANIA]

Dude is reported to have been a member of Progressive Slovakia
Since when would a poet who once founded a political party based on no violence ethic and today part of Progressive Slovakia be a former Russian paramilitary 8 years ago?

Do tell us where you found this.

Also twitter (already being widely spread), but source apparently is Slovakian media and i don't speak Slovakian

https://twitter.com/CaptCoronado/status/1790784295939838021

Maybe you could help verify this, but i don't really trust your word either because of you claiming the exact opposite.

I’m sorry you’re giving Estrella crap then post this as a source? This is legit pot calling the kettle black stuff

I admit I made a mistake here (tho it wasn't that source exactly i used where I read he had Progressive Slovakia ties).

But... again, Estrella has been doing the exact same thing. And if you're calling me out for it, fine. But call him out for it as well, because what he posts is bullsh**t too and not verified yet.

The claim that he is part of Progressive Slovakia is not officially verified too AFAIK.

[Antonio the Sixth]

All right, that's it for me. Laki goes into the ignore list.

Anyway, this is obviously a deeply traumatic event for Slovakia and I can only hope that the entire political class will treat it with the dignity and levelheadedness it requires. Whatever the attacker's motives, I'll expect the condemnation to be unanimous, and I hope (without much hope) that no one will try to milk this for political gain. I also hope that there won't be any gap in leadership at a time when Slovakia needs to remain actively involved in European politics.

[Pericles]

I guess a Slovak didn't want his country to become like Hungary.  It shouldn't have ended up like this, let's wish the best for Slovaks in this difficult time.

[TheTide]

I guess a Slovak didn't want his country to become like Hungary. 

So, by implication, are the (doubtless many) who hold a similar view also gun-wielding fanatics?

[Pericles]

I guess a Slovak didn't want his country to become like Hungary. 

So, by implication, are the (doubtless many) who hold a similar view also gun-wielding fanatics?

Lmao no, the attacker was not a normal guy. I'm just saying that even if the motivation was political, it's more likely to be domestic rather than even about a foreign country (let alone plotted by one).

[LAKISYLVANIA]

I guess a Slovak didn't want his country to become like Hungary. 

So, by implication, are the (doubtless many) who hold a similar view also gun-wielding fanatics?

Lmao no, the attacker was not a normal guy. I'm just saying that even if the motivation was political, it's more likely to be domestic rather than even about a foreign country (let alone plotted by one).

That would make it a bit more similar to the assassination of Pim Fortuyn but with the difference that Fico already was in power while with Pim Fortuyn he was heading towards election victory.

There obviously are a number of examples like that, Abe maybe too comes to mind.

[Estrella]

I'll try not to jump to conclusions, so here's some more information about the attacker, from a credible media source, Slovakia's most-read broadsheet.
- Just before he started shooting, he shouted "Robo, shake my hand". He fired five shots, three of which hit or grazed the PM.
- The shooting took place shortly after a cabinet meeting in the industrial small town of Handlová, home to a coal mine that shut down last year. The attacker was from Levice, about 80 km away, but he had connections to Handlová and worked for the mine in the past.
- He published three collections of poetry, he's one of the 550 members of the Union of Slovak Writers and founded a literary club in Levice.
- In 2016 he founded the "Movement Against Violence" with a very vague platform, stating that "we need to show strength but not violence" and "we must prevent a war in Europe." He started a petition to register it as a political party, but only eight people signed it.
- His son said that he was never treated for any psychiatric problems and the gun was indeed legally held. About his politics, the son only said that he "didn't vote for Fico".

[Sirius_]

The best evidence seems to suggest that he is some sort of fascist or right wing populist. Yet some people seem to be giddy about a crackdown against the liberal opposition, which would not even be right if the man was purporting to serve a liberal cause and is outright ridiculous if he wasn't.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

I do think this is obviously a horrible occurrence and I pray Mr. Fico is able to quickly recover. But I will say that an assassination attempt from a guy who founded a group called “Movement Against Violence” is at least a little funny.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

I'll try not to jump to conclusions, so here's some more information about the attacker, from a credible media source, Slovakia's most-read broadsheet.
- Just before he started shooting, he shouted "Robo, shake my hand". He fired five shots, three of which hit or grazed the PM.
- The shooting took place shortly after a cabinet meeting in the industrial small town of Handlová, home to a coal mine that shut down last year. The attacker was from Levice, about 80 km away, but he had connections to Handlová and worked for the mine in the past.
- He published three collections of poetry, he's one of the 550 members of the Union of Slovak Writers and founded a literary club in Levice.
- In 2016 he founded the "Movement Against Violence" with a very vague platform, stating that "we need to show strength but not violence" and "we must prevent a war in Europe." He started a petition to register it as a political party, but only eight people signed it.
- His son said that he was never treated for any psychiatric problems and the gun was indeed legally held. About his politics, the son only said that he "didn't vote for Fico".

Yes but how does that link to your claim that he used to be part of a Pro-Russian paramilitary group?

That he was a poet and part of movement against violence was already mentioned in our Belgian news media already. That's verified, and we all know that definitely is the case.

[LAKISYLVANIA]

The best evidence seems to suggest that he is some sort of fascist or right wing populist. Yet some people seem to be giddy about a crackdown against the liberal opposition, which would not even be right if the man was purporting to serve a liberal cause and is outright ridiculous if he wasn't.

What evidence?

[Storr]

"As we've been reporting, Robert Kalinak, Slovak minister of defence, and Matus Sutaj Estok, minister of interior, have given a news conference, updating the media on Prime Minister Robert Fico's state of health.

They also spoke strongly about the "hatred sown" by the media and people "railing at other people" on social media."

"Parliament was sitting at the time of the attack and Slovak media reported that a party colleague of Fico's shouted at opposition MPs, accusing them of stoking the attack."

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-69016687?src_origin=BBCS_BBC

[Estrella]

That press conference was just surreal. One second Šutaj Eštok talked about "let's just all bite our tongues so that we won't start a civil war", then Kaliňák accused the opposition and media of whipping up hatred and sharing responsibility for the assassination. They also both (undenstandably) looked totally shellshocked and in some moments Kaliňák looked like he was on the brink of tears.

[Alcibiades]

Doubtless he’ll respond that I’m trying to suppress his opposing point of view, but can Laki perhaps be muted from this thread? This a textbook example of derailing a thread, and it’s particularly bad because this is a fast-moving story on which I’m sure many of us would appreciate updates free from all this clutter.

[Estrella]

Of course in the chaos of the situation it’s difficult to do things properly, but a well-known security expert and former director of government bodyguards’ office is on TV now and absolutely trashing Fico’s security detail for not following procedures and what he describes as staggering incompetence.

Another one. Former national police chief says “so far, it looks like a total failure of PM’s security.”