Robert Fico Shooting Suspect: What We Know So Far

The man being held in custody over the attempted assassination of Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico reportedly had political motives for carrying out the shooting.

Hours after Fico was airlifted to hospital following the shooting in the town of Handlova, Slovakian media outlet Hlavný Denník identified the alleged gunman as Juraj Cintula, a writer and poet from Levice in the southern-central part of the country.

The publication said that the 71-year-old was a former private security guard who was legally entitled to possess a gun. Slovakia's interior minister, Matúš Šutaj Eštok, told reporters on Wednesday the suspect was a critic of Fico's policies, he was oriented towards Russia and that he sympathized with the opposition in his country.

Having served two terms as prime minister, Fico returned to power after elections last year following campaign trail rhetoric of promises to halt military aid to Ukraine, condemnation of sanctions against Russia for its invasion and criticism of LGBTQ+ rights.

A video clip filmed after his arrest showed Cintula saying he "did not agree with the policy of the authorities" and that "the media will be liquidated."

Hungarian investigative journalist Szabolcs Pányi posted on X that Cintula had been linked to the pro-Russian group Slovenskí Branci (Slovak Conscripts), an unregistered paramilitary organization that existed between 2012 and 2022 whose leader was trained by Russian ex-special forces.

Panyi also noted how the group had links with the Russian motorcycle gang the Night Wolves, which is closely aligned with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

An image on Slovenskí Branci's Facebook page from January 2016 showed Cintula standing next to men in military fatigues holding flags, one of which was Slovakian. Next to the picture was a post by Cintula in which he praised how the group has "the ability to act without the order of the state, which is simply incomprehensible in a passive society like ours."

Cintula also said, according to a translation: "When anyone tells you they are preparing for war, don't believe them. Their primary task is to protect the inhabitants, the country, tradition, culture—they are patriots."

One social media user wrote on Wednesday underneath the Facebook post: "Irony of fate, a pro-Russian prime minister attacked by a pro-Russian nationalist."

There were also reports that in 2015 Cintula founded the group Against Violence, which he tried to get officially registered, saying in a petition at the time: "Let's be dissatisfied, but not violent."

Slovakian Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kaliňák said that Fico had stabilized, although his condition remains "very serious as the injuries are complicated."

When contacted for comment by Newsweek, Slovakian Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár said in a statement: "I strongly condemn this insidious attack on the Prime Minister as an attack on democracy. We all believe that the Prime Minister will overcome this difficult fight."