Something so unprecedented that no Slovak, no European even fathomed it: an assassination attempt against a sitting prime minister.
Now hindsight is 20/20: after the fact, it’s easy to point to a climate of verbal violence.
We’ll ask about a populist prime minister who just recently returned to power in a tight race and the unprecedented polarisation in Robert Fico’s country.
When UK member of parliament Jo Cox was assassinated by a deranged constituent during the 2016 Brexit campaign, that too seemed like a black swan moment. Isolated cases or part of a broader trend?
And who stands to benefit from this heinous crime? Slovakia’s government has asked senior leaders in its own ranks to tone down accusations that the opposition and the media are to blame. More broadly, as the whole continent gets set to vote in EU elections, how much fear and loathing on this campaign trail?
Produced by Alessandr Xenos, Guillaume Gougeon and Imen Mellaz.
#Slovakia #Shooting #Fico
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