The Slovak Prime Minister has reappeared publicly after being shot in the abdomen on May 15.
The Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Ficohas made his first public appearance since he was shot on May 15 in an apparent assassination attempt.
He spoke at an event at Devín Castle, in the capital, Bratislava, on the occasion of the Day of Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, national holiday in Slovakia to commemorate the day the two Christian missionaries arrived in what was then Moravia.
He made only one reference to his execution, calling it only an “unfortunate event,” and used his speech mainly to talk about the need for build a barrier against progressivism which, he said, is spreading “like a cancer.”
“They are ideologies that are damaging this country. They are ideologies that were created perhaps the day before yesterday. I do not want Slovakia to be one of the countries that make a caricature of Western civilization. “We are a proud nation,” he said.
He also took advantage of his speech to warn of the danger of war in Ukraine turns into a broader regional conflict.
“If we do not do something in the coming days and months, the situation that is developing in Ukraine could get out of hand and we could see an uncontrolled war,” he warned.
“Unfortunate incident”: he was shot in Handlová
The populist prime minister, 59, He was shot in the abdomen at point-blank range as he greeted his supporters after a government meeting in Handlová on 15 May.
In the videos he was seen approaching the people gathered at the barricades and extending his hand to shake them, while A man came forward, extended his arm and fired five times before being approached and detained.
Fico was subjected to a five-hour surgical procedure to treat the multiple injuries he suffered in the shooting, followed by another operation two hours two days later to remove dead tissue from his gunshot wounds.
At the end of May, he was transferred by helicopter from the hospital in Banská Bystrica to the capital, Bratislavawhere he was treated at home.
Fico has since stated that forgives his attacker and that he does not feel “any hatred towards the stranger who shot me”.
In early June, Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kaliňák, who is also Defense Minister in Fico’s government, said that the state of Fico gradually improvedbut probably would have permanent health problems.
