Father Tomáš stood solemnly in the small Catholic church nestled near a park along the banks of the Danube River in Bratislava last Friday morning. He had seen an increase in visitors since the shock shooting, two days previously, of Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico.
The priest, who did not wish to give his full name, planned to hold his weekly Sunday service to pray "for peace in Slovakia, so that we find mutual respect and understanding".
But beyond the centuries-old walls of his church, such language of unity is harder to find.
The assassination attempt in Handlová, a town about 180km from the capital, has prompted soul-searching among the country's deeply divided society and shone a light on what many say is a far wider crisis in a Slovakia that has been marred by toxicity and violence.
Less than an hour after the shooting, as Fico was being rushed by helicopter to a local hospital - his health deemed too critical for him to be flown back to Bratislava for treatment - his allies rushed to criticise the opposition and elements of civil society, accusing them of having blood on their hands.
L'uboš Blaha, the deputy speaker of parliament and a senior member of Fico's Smer party, said: "This is your work. I want to express my deep disgust at what you have been doing here for the last few years. You, the liberal media, the political opposition, what kind of hatred did you spread towards Robert Fico? You built gallows for him."
The interior minister, Matúš Šutaj-Eštok, later warned: "We are on the doorstep of a civil war. The assassination attempt on the prime minister is a confirmation of that." Fico's critics instead said that the divisive climate cultivated by the prime minister and his allies was partly to blame for the attack.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 24, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 24, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Finn family murals
The optimism that runs through Finnish artist Tove Jansson's Moomin stories also appears in her public works, now on show in a Helsinki exhibition
I hoped Finland would be a progressive dream.I've had to think again Mike Watson
Oulu is five hours north from Helsinki by train and a good deal colder and darker each winter than the Finnish capital. From November to March its 220,000 residents are lucky to see daylight for a couple of hours a day and temperatures can reach the minus 30s. However, this is not the reason I sense a darkening of the Finnish dream that brought me here six years ago.
A surplus of billionaires is destabilising our democracies Zoe Williams
The concept of \"elite overproduction\" was developed by social scientist Peter Turchin around the turn of this century to describe something specific: too many rich people for not enough rich-person jobs.
'What will people think? I don't care any more'
At 90, Alan Bennett has written a sex-fuelled novella set in a home for the elderly. He talks about mourning Maggie Smith, turning down a knighthood and what he makes of the new UK prime minister
I see you
What happens when people with acute psychosis meet the voices in their heads? A new clinical trial reveals some surprising results
Rumbled How Ali ran rings around apartheid, 50 years ago
Fifty years ago, in a corner of white South Africa, Muhammad Ali already seemed a miracle-maker.
Trudeau faces 'iceberg revolt'as calls grow for PM to quit
Justin Trudeau, who promised “sunny ways” as he won an election on a wave of public fatigue with an incumbent Conservative government, is now facing his darkest and most uncertain political moment as he attempts to defy the odds to win a rare fourth term.
Lost Maya city revealed through laser mapping
After swapping machetes and binoculars for computer screens and laser mapping, a team of researchers have discovered a lost Maya city containing temple pyramids, enclosed plazas and a reservoir which had been hidden for centuries by the Mexican jungle.
'A civil war' Gangs step up assault on capital
Armed fighters advance into neighbourhoods at the heart of Port-au-Prince as authorities try to restore order
Reality bites in the Himalayan 'kingdom of happiness'
High emigration and youth unemployment levels belie the mountain nation's global reputation for cheeriness