The attack on the Slovakian prime minister, Robert Fico, has horrified leaders across Europe who have voiced condemnation and called for calm in an increasingly febrile political landscape. In the build-up to next month's European elections, there is an unstable atmosphere in many countries across the continent - with political violence and unrest becoming more common.
Who is Robert Fico and why is he such a divisive figure?
Fico began his career as a member of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia when it was in power and later founded the Smer party in 1999. This is Fico's fourth term as Slovakia's prime minister, having won elections in 2006, 2012 and 2016, but he had to resign in 2018 amid mass protests over the murder of an investigative journalist and his fiancee. That left Fico in opposition for five years, from where his party adopted increasingly rightwing views on immigration, press freedom and LGBTQ+ rights.
He was elected in 2023, on a more anti-EU, pro-Putin platform: cutting funding for Ukraine was a key pledge in his campaign. His polarising political style has created deep rifts in Slovakia - critics have accused him of undermining the rule of law and media freedoms.
Denne historien er fra May 24, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra May 24, 2024-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
The courts are pushing back. What if Trump defies them?
Years before he became US vice-president and advocated defiance of the courts over the Trump administration's blitz through the federal bureaucracy and constitution, JD Vance revealed his contempt for legal constraints.
'We're afraid' Can the tide be turned on surging gang crime?
The Operation Restoration Christian school sits amid a line of patched-up housing blocks and streetside cookshops in Trench Town.
Land grab Defiance in the face of 'Riviera' plan
One month after the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinians of Gaza have begun improvising a new life amid the wreckage of the old.
The scandal of the radioactive chapatis
When details about a scientific study in the 1960s-in which Indian women in Britain were given radioactive food without their consent - became public, there was shock and anxiety. But what exactly happened?
Soul.survivors
De La Soul's return was shattered by the death of Dave 'Trugoy' Jolicoeur. Now a duo, they discuss grief, Gorillaz and never giving up
Annexation talk gives Canadians a reason to pull together
Alone figure takes to the stage, a giant maple leaf flag rippling on a screen behind him as he gingerly approaches the microphone.
Friend or foe? By meeting with the AfD, Vance clearly revealed US intentions
The Trump administration is making a big bet on Europe's hard right.
The race to commit an island to memory
Can virtual-reality cameras, 3D models and digital archives prevent Qikiqtaruk's history from slipping away?
A 32-minute boiled egg? Don't let science ruin the joy of home cooking
I remember making pearls of balsamic vinegar, my first and only foray into what is known as \"molecular gastronomy\", in 2013.
As US retreats, plan for a joint nuclear shield deserves consideration
The startling contempt for Europe's intensifying security concerns displayed by Donald Trump and his henchmen has brought an old, controversial question back to the fore: should Britain and France pool their nuclear weapons capabilities and create a Europe-wide defensive nuclear shield to deter Vladimir Putin's Russia, if the US reduces or withdraws its support?
