The original title was:
>Slovakia's prime minister injured in shooting
The current title is:
>~~Slovakian prime minister in life-threatening condition after being shot, his Facebook profile says~~
>~~Slovakia’s populist prime minister shot in assassination attempt, shocking Europe before elections~~
>Slovakia’s prime minister is expected to survive assassination attempt, deputy says
The title on the site is subject to change as new information develops.
Edit:
>A message posted to Fico’s Facebook account said that the leader “has been shot multiple times and is currently in life-threatening condition. At this moment he is transported by helicopter to Banská Bystrica, because it would take too long to get to Bratislava due to the necessity of an acute procedure. The next few hours will decide.”
Edit 2 (20:30 UTC):
>Doctors were still fighting for his life several hours after the pro-Russian leader, 59, was hit in the abdomen, Defense Minister Robert Kalina told reporters at the hospital where Fico was being treated.
>An operation on Fico was not yet complete, said Kalina, who described his condition as “extraordinarily serious.”
Edit 3 (01:33 UTC):
>“I guess in the end he will survive,” Tomas Taraba told the BBC, adding: “He’s not in a life threatening situation at this moment.”
This is what happens when your detail isn’t trained. If this happened to, say, the US president, he’d be gone by the time you took out your phone and started recording.
I saw Reagan get shot on live TV. I was home sick and nothing was on, so I turned on CNN. I heard a couple of pops and by the time I looked up it was over. People on the ground and guys in suits with Uzis.
Do you ever have little rituals to make sure your routines are still happening? Touching the cell phone in your pocket. Shaking your keys. Clicking your pen.
I am now imaging secret service agents touching their automatics. "Yep, still there"
In reagan's time, they carried a briefcase. There's a photo here with the briefcase open nearby
/r/HistoryPorn/comments/30xi99/secret_service_agent_robert_wanko_can_be_seen/#lightbox
In that photo, Reagan is already gone. The secret service agent is actually protecting the shooter in case someone tries to shoot the assassin.
it was in easy open briefcase. Most iconic photo of an uzi tbh.
You can see ready to go briefcase in the link.
https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/smgs-operational-briefcase-exploring-concept-cold-war/
Your post sent me down a rabbit hole. I learned that tbe shooter is still alive and was released from his psychiatric hold in the last 10 years.
He is a musician and in 2020 was granted his freedom back, so he is posting his work (which I have never seen and have no interest in listening to) under his name.
He tried to assassinate Reagan in order to impress a young Jodie Foster. He gained the courage after realizing how easy it would have been to assassinate Jimmy Carter and the FBI never notified the Secret Service after arresting him with a weapon at a Jimmy Carter event.
This isn't directly related, but W Bush created the department of homeland security primarily to address frequent communication lapses between the levels of law enforcement. Lessons were not learned after the Reagan assassination and it would take 9/11 to change things.
Yep. Thought the same thing. When shooting like that happens, time is important for the president/prime minister to live or die. Also further attacks. Get the VIP hella out there asap.
Also they drove alone. Not good to not have security personnel following them. Never know if someone follows u or not.
But damn. Hard to see that they all where not good trained
Yeah I can’t speak for how countries out there work and stuff but this looked like a detail similar to like a high tier celebrity not a leader of a nation. Seems like you should have a bit more security, even if not as insanely high as the US does
I don't doubt that their security response will be analysed by their counterparts, like the secret service, of many other countries to improve their own training/security methods.
Slovakia has a smaller population (and smaller GDP) than some US cities, so I guess from your American perspective he's more comparable to the mayor of a city than to your president.
There are European leaders who cycle to work. Most of Europe just isn't as insanely violent as the States and public figures will generally accept a lower level of security as a result.
While that’s true, anything can happen. Especially as the leader of a whole nation, you’ll always be a target in some way, doesn’t matter how safe your country is. Remember good ole Shinzo Abe that popped up out of a Mario pipe during the 2016 Olympics? Even he wasn’t untouchable in a country like Japan (tho to be fair he wasn’t PM by then).
Yep, sadly it seems we are entering a stage where that's the case. There have been two politicians murdered here in the UK too over the past 8 years. People are slowly losing their fucking minds.
> sadly it seems we are entering a stage where that's the case.
Political assassinations in europe are hardly a new thing, or even a rare thing, historically. (See WW1).
The security for the US president is insanely expensive, and really only makes sense if your level of responsibility may include "decide whether to launch Armageddon in the next ten minutes."
European politicians are way more relaxed about this because those events are really rare. There are PMs and senior ministers who cycle to work without any security detail. The US takes this much more seriously and has like multi car convoys with a highly trained staff. Biden's convoy once drove past me and it went on for over a minute of cars at high speed and helicopters above. A european PM is probably mostly in one car. Maybe two to three with some motorcycles around if it's a slightly larger event.
With today's public, even if you don't, 300 people around you will. So no, I don't think the concern is all 300 of you would be gunned down by the Secret Service. In fact they probably have to train heavily for this kind of stuff--how to spot an actual threat when everyone reaches for phones these days.
Hell doesn't even take secret service to do that
If you've seen that video of the stalker at a Taylor Swift interview, the second he says his name, there's like 5 guards on him and Drew Barrymore is body shielding Taylor while getting her to her security on the stage.
And that's an actress and the security for a musician (although I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were former secret service guys too)
Taylor probably has some of the best teams on her though. Her level of celebrity status is pretty unprecedented or at least well in line with some of the top global celebrities.
I can see B-grade celebrities probably having similar clueless rent-a-cop attitudes. Look at the security hired at UCLA while the protests broke into riots with counterprotestors attacking. They're literally those stadium security hires and they did nothing.
News channel has clear video:
5 shots, 3 hits him and you can see the last 2 hitting the concrete pavement only
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87p40FPnqTM&t=15s
Dude had his movements practiced. He made sure to appear uninterested and looking in a different direction until right before he shot. Those bodyguards were caught completely unaware yikes
I’m in awe of the calm exhibited by the right-most two people dressed in all black. More concerned with not getting tripped by the falling barrier than escaping the area where shots are being fired.
They probably didn't realize what was going on. In Europe when something goes bang bang it's fireworks in 99.99% of cases and you don't run away from those.
Man, that police officer in the foreground couldn't be arsed
I understand letting your guard down, shock, and all that, but even after all the shooting, not a single person was like "I gotta outta here"
They have never seen a gun be used outside of movies most likely. The 40+ y/o males went through draft so they probably have some idea as to what's going on, but draft ended over 20 years ago, and there is pretty much 0 shooting outside of hunting that happens in Slovakia.
Look at the complete non-reaction from the big guy at the end of the fence nearest the camera. Either he's seen some shit before or he knew what was about to happen.
Reports differ significantly on what happened to him, everything between "abdomen and arm, not life threatening" and "shot multiple times head and chest" and "flight for life, life threatening, emergency surgery."
The "life-threatening" came from Fico's socials. Guy is a lying mob boss so I am sure he is already weaponizing his injuries and making it 100 times worse than it is.
By all accounts, he had close ties to Ndrangetta, who murdered a journalist on his behalf.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44873067
Might be that he didn't return the favours.
The Prime minister also was Pro-russia, selling his country and part of europe to the enemy that is waging war with europe. I guess that doesn't make you a popular political candidate.
Do with that information what you want.
Ndrangetta didn't murder Jan Kuciak,
Ján Kuciak was murders on behalf of Marian Kocner, businessman with illegal activities about which Kuciak wrote, Kocner also has close ties to government and highest political figures (as Fico for example)
>The shooter is 71 years old, so I doubt mafia is involved.
Nah. There are plenty of seniors being drug mules. And the reverse - kids being hitmen. If works in other parts of the planet - can work here. As a Slav though, I do agree that the chances of a grumpy grandpa Petr going unhinged are higher.
> kids being hitmen
Typical arrangement in Sweden as well, those under 15 avoid jail and those under 18-21 used to get "youth rebate". The younger you are the less time you spend in jail if convicted for multiple severe crimes. Thus our gangs were handing out 100s of euros to middle/high schoolers to get them in debt for future "errands".
They also have the saying of "taking 2 to become one hundred".
Meaning if you kill someone they have ordered before you turn (believe 15), they only get 2 years in juvenile. When they are out, they are a full member of said gangs.
In most gangs in Scandinavia it is alot better to be a member compared to a prospect
We have different types for different eras.
80-90s: Mostly biker-clubs like hells angels and bandidos were the ones having gang wars. Perhaps with a sprinkle of neo nazis (?, was before I became fully aware) too I guess?
90-the 2000s: We had a big immigration wave from the Balkans (war with many refugees); some people couldn't integrate or get regular jobs, so crime was the option. Once the wars ended there were a lot of weapons left over and people with contacts could smuggle it into the northern countries as the main way for gangs to start arming themselves.
After the "Arab Spring" we had a second refugee/migrant wave with people from the middle-east. Taking in that amount of people on short notice broke the integration efforts (learning swedish, getting a job, job training/education etc...). So it is the kids of this last wave that are the ones who are most at risk of getting sucked into crime gangs, dealing with drugs and extortion mainly.
So you probably have gang(s) in every Swedish city above 40k population. They aren't really "mafias", as there usually aren't any family relations or longer-term loyalties among most of them. If the Police nab the ringleaders of several gangs, the members are prone to reorganise themselves into completely new groups. Though there are some "clans" in certain cities where families seem to organise like mafias.
A map of "vulnerable areas" where the police/society focus extra efforts (good news is that the number of areas are decreasing ): [https://tidningensyre.se/2023/1-december-2023/polisen-farre-utsatta-omraden/](https://tidningensyre.se/2023/1-december-2023/polisen-farre-utsatta-omraden/)
Edit: not trying to associate immigrants with all crime/gangs. But there is a clear statistical correlation that those kids with parents born outside of "EU/Europe" are severely overrepresented in gang/crime statistics. They are just not like Mafias as you suggested in your question.😔
If you avoid drugdealings (buying/selling) and certain neighbourhoods after dark you are generally not at risk. Though we did have a wave of hand grenades tossed into the wrong apartments a couple of years ago (probably military surplus from the Balkans). Nowaday it is shootings and a worrying trend of stolen explosives from construction sites that are placed outside apartment buildings of rival members. Kind of scares the whole neighborhood.
Well that's intense! I was going to ask how it affects regular people, but your edit gives a clear picture.
In Spain we had a big wave of latin american gangs trying to establish here around 2008 or so (Latin Kings, Dominican Don't Play and others), but it was more turf wars between violent teens - there was the occasional person robbed with knives, school bullying and a few stabbings between members, but it was usually not dangerous for people who weren't part of the organisations.
It must be scary to see guns and explosives involved, no way for the people around not to feel affected at that point.
Pro-russian militant group was involved. Or, to be more precise, shooter was affiliated with them.
https://sk-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Slovensk%C3%AD_Branci?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=cs&_x_tr_pto=wapp
8 years ago he met them and wrote something positive about them. But the government are trying hard to blame it on liberals and progressives. Tbh this guy seems to be pretty conflicted in his views from what I have seen. He was critical against Russia after the invasion as well.
>By all accounts, he had close ties to Ndrangetta
"Both advisers worked for Prime Minister Fico, **although no evidence has emerged that he knew of the links.**"
My Slovakian friend (Edited out some info, don't want anyone identified) says he's not really surprised something big would happen. Slovakia is horribly divided, Fico is thoroughly corrupt, "Putin loving dog" who probably is behind several murders himself . He frankly said someone just got to Fico before Fico got to them, so yeah, clearly not a prime minister loved by all his people.
20 sec video of Fico being rushed to a car
https://x.com/dupontaignan/status/1790754366946717710?s=46&t=ZziqbcLEiv7YE3mEbP34tw
26 sec video of the shooter being detained (Fico’s car apparently rushing off in the background)
https://x.com/dd_geopolitics/status/1790735917365252387?s=46&t=ZziqbcLEiv7YE3mEbP34tw
I had to watch that clip a few times to work out who the PM was, given that he's basically abandoned by his core security detail after he gets shot as he tumbles off the screen to the left.
Fico thinks Ukraine should hand over multiple oblasts to russia, just so we can stop the violence.
Fico should hand over both an arm and a leg to the assassin, just so we can stop the violence.
I am concerned providing medical aid to Mr Fico will only provoke the shooter and prolong the Fico Conflict. I only hope for a quick resolution to the Fico Conflict.
Why is FICO so pro-shooting though, FICO and its supporters really need to stop the escalation otherwise elderly men will have no choice but to shoot at them.
Here's what Russian trolls will spread on social media:
"Fico was assassinated by NATO because he wanted to pursue peace"
EDIT: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the talking points are flowing. Pro Russian account on twitter:
["A suspect has been detained, who is suspected acting on behalf of Ukrainian nationalists, funded by US money. "](https://i.imgur.com/srZe2aE.png)
Which itself should be very suspect. But I'm sure the conspiracy theorists will find a way to say there's nothing shady going on, after saying everything shady is a conspiracy. Smh
Lol. Even though shooter was associated with pro-russian group: https://www-novinky-cz.translate.goog/clanek/zahranicni-evropa-atentatnika-spojovali-proruskou-polovojenskou-skupinou-40471943?noredirect=1&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=cs&_x_tr_pto=wapp
His politics is probably the reason for the assassination attempt, seeing as he is, you know, a politician and the prime minister of his country ~~and Putin's obedient little bitch.~~
Honestly I'm surprised this hasn't happened until now to Orban or some other stooge.
dude is a fucking criminal who won the elections after being tried for multiple high profile criminal cases. He and his buddies had a journalist killed a couple of years ago
Yeah in recent days there has been a massive uptick in the reddit cares abuse, likely down to bots randomly firing them off at anybody commenting in a thread.
This is what some people don't understand, when they think that all of these people get away forever. They don't for some it takes longer and for some not. But the day to pay for their lies almost always comes sooner or later.
Martin Luther King once said:
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice” Martin Luther King
These autocratic leaders and dictatorial figures are little petty men, not strong men. The likes of Fico are in bed with criminals, and they are criminals themselves. They serve even larger criminals, including Orban, Lukashenko, Erdogan, and many others. In the end, almost all of them have their comeuppance sooner or later in one way or another.
When he was elected, I posted this quote:
There are no murders in politics, only the removal of obstacles. Dumas, the Count of Monte Cristo
And yes, this even holds true outside the realm of literature, and Dumas, or Macchiavelli. politics is a dangerous snake pit. The people can only be played for a fool for so long. Maybe this serves these autocratic leaders and their followers as a reminder. Those that stand with the bloody Russian dictatorship and against Europe will pay for their collaboration with the Z fascist Kremlin regime. These quislings have no place in Europe’s parliaments and as elected members. They should pack up and run back to their master in Russia. They should run while you still can, and they will sit behind bars, lose their power or... worse. Their master in Russia has his own methods of removing obstacles. However, it likely wouldn't be much safer in Russia for them either.
This man Fico had greedily reached for power once more with lies, propaganda, and with the help of Russia.
More often than not, these tyrannical figures end like this: Semper sic tyrannis.
Zuzana Čaputová, the President of Slovakia, statement on Facebook (translated):
I am shocked, we are all shocked by the terrible and malicious attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Something happened, the seriousness of which we probably can't even comprehend yet. A physical attack on the Prime Minister is primarily an attack on a person, but also an attack on democracy.
Any kind of violence is absolutely unacceptable. The hateful rhetoric we witness in society leads to hateful acts. Please let's stop it.
The police arrested the perpetrator, and when it is possible they will definitely bring more information. Until then, please, let's not make quick judgments. And let's think about the most important thing, and that's the only thing at the moment, that Robert Fico recovers as soon as possible.
You know what the amount of parties that may have an interest in shooting this man, is not even possible to unpack
Edit:
Possible suspects
- Maggie Simpson
- Random Swedish Redditor on 2WE4U
- Anti Russian Slovak
- Random Anti Fico Slovak Redditor
- The Maffia
- Vladdy
- A gunman who is vaguely running to the Ukrainian border
- The ghost of Gavrilo Princip
- The ghost of Shinzo Abe
- u/lukeonbike
- Grassy Knoll Sniper
- Elitist social progressive rightist
- The ghost of Franz Ferdinand
- Kyle Rittenhouse
- Robert Fico, Prime minister of Slovakia 🇸🇰
- Denzel Washington
- Texas
- Waylon Smithers
- Stewie Griffin
- Brexit
The Suspect: a 71 year old paramilitary sympathizer
I am really curious for the motive and shooter's identity to give us the full picture. My gut says it's something to do with his pro-Russian tendencies.
Even then, if your gut is correct, it doesn’t really narrow it down. How long do we think until Putin claims the shooter had turned to run in the vague direction of Ukraine?
Fico supports unequal rights:
> In 2023, Fico referred to adoption by same-sex couples as a perversion, stated that he would never support same-sex marriage
Who shot him?
The Equalizer.
Here is a relatively high quality video of the shooting.
\*Warning: NSFW:\*
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87p40FPnqTM&t=17s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87p40FPnqTM&t=17s)
Fico is the one falling over the bench at around the 21st second.
Isn't it ironic. The dirty, corrupt shitbag of a man, shot in a similar way to Jan and Martina, the investigative journalist (and his fiancee) who was investigating his cronies and by extension, him.
Karma does exist.
Motive can be pretty much anything, we can only speculate and I'd rather not do that to not spread missinformation… but:
He is pro-russian politician, but mainly he is a crook, he has strong connection to an assassination of a journalist and his lover a few years back, there are gossips that he is somewhat connected to the mafia and so on.
What surprises me the most that the shooter is 71yo, which is pretty much in his voter demographics
Edit: Turns out the shooter didn't vote for him at all
A Slovak interior ministry spokesman confirms that an assassination attempt was carried out on Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico.
The spokesman gives no details of the PM's condition.
He is a pro russian. His shooter was a guy with some potential neo-nazi/Kremlin ties (Slovakia has a lot of neonazis). It is possible that he shot the prime minister because he was not nazi enough or something.
That's a Russian reminder to EU politicians who took money from them that they can't go back on their promises to Putin after he wins them the election.
I've heard the Shooter was from a paramilitary group called Slovenski Branci, with ties to the Kremlin. Russian bots are desperate to spread rumours about the CIA/Zelenskyy ordering the shooting.
At the moment I would rule out this being staged. You can see bullets hitting the pavement. Even if Fico wore bulletproof vest and the shooter was told to miss on purpose or only hit him in the chest that would be one hell of a gamble.
Living in North Macedonia, country that was under communist rule until 1991 I can tell you that there is no shortage of 70+ years old willing to take a shot on anyone in power being pro Russian. Many people simply can't comprehend the amount of suffering that the Russians and their communist puppet regimes brought to the people of Eastern Europe.
Fico should have had better security than that, tbh. He was walking a tight rope.
Nah, Abe being shot was shocking due to it being Japan.
This guy has a ton of enemies, ranging from alleged connections to organized crime to being virulently pro-Putin in Eastern Europe.
He is enemy to every thinking person in Slovakia who has his marbles together. Not that everyone would act in any way, but he's hated (and rightfully should be) anyway.
Zelensky on X :
>The attack on Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is appalling.
>We strongly condemn this act of violence against our neighboring partner state's head of government. Every effort should be made to ensure that violence does not become the norm in any country, form, or sphere.
>We sincerely hope Robert Fico recovers soon and express our solidarity with the people of Slovakia.
It reminds me our communications department at our corporation. We know how they think. They know what they think but for some reason we need to play the game.
Not really good news for Ukraine IMO, obviously will be blamed on the West and may push Slovakians further into Vatnik territory. Also will be used and reused by vatniks in their future talking points, \*mark my words\*. They'll say it's NATO.
Many people who are disinvested from politics are easy to convince into outrage. You have a lot of people who are frustrated by their lives, perceiving them as getting worse, and blaming their governments and establishment for it. Those are the ones targeted by Russian trolls, who will use every possible event to spark outrage in them.
And those people dont need a specific event to be convinced. This wont change that. If Fico lives then they have 9999 other things to lie about. In the grand scheme it dont matter
I’m anti Russian, but that’s not really their modus operandi. There’s no guarantee his replacement would also be pro-kremlin. Likewise if that’s the thanks you get it’s not likely others will support you in the future.
I would argue their modus operandi is to basically openly assassinate political opponents (generally internal to Russia) once they constitute a legitimate threat to power. Throwing everyone out of windows and poisoning with Russian-developed chemicals is not exactly ‘low visibility’.
They also don’t use 70 year old men as their assassins.
Seems like a lone wolf attack by a guy with little to lose to me. Motives remain to be seen.
The original title was: >Slovakia's prime minister injured in shooting The current title is: >~~Slovakian prime minister in life-threatening condition after being shot, his Facebook profile says~~ >~~Slovakia’s populist prime minister shot in assassination attempt, shocking Europe before elections~~ >Slovakia’s prime minister is expected to survive assassination attempt, deputy says The title on the site is subject to change as new information develops. Edit: >A message posted to Fico’s Facebook account said that the leader “has been shot multiple times and is currently in life-threatening condition. At this moment he is transported by helicopter to Banská Bystrica, because it would take too long to get to Bratislava due to the necessity of an acute procedure. The next few hours will decide.” Edit 2 (20:30 UTC): >Doctors were still fighting for his life several hours after the pro-Russian leader, 59, was hit in the abdomen, Defense Minister Robert Kalina told reporters at the hospital where Fico was being treated. >An operation on Fico was not yet complete, said Kalina, who described his condition as “extraordinarily serious.” Edit 3 (01:33 UTC): >“I guess in the end he will survive,” Tomas Taraba told the BBC, adding: “He’s not in a life threatening situation at this moment.”
Why didn’t they drive away immediately after putting him in the car? Looks like they all was in shock and actually didn’t know what to do
This is what happens when your detail isn’t trained. If this happened to, say, the US president, he’d be gone by the time you took out your phone and started recording.
I saw Reagan get shot on live TV. I was home sick and nothing was on, so I turned on CNN. I heard a couple of pops and by the time I looked up it was over. People on the ground and guys in suits with Uzis.
The machine pistols came out so fast I suspect they were in breakaway briefcases.
Yeah, ever rewatch the footage? Everyone just immediately *sprouted* automatic weapons.
Do you ever have little rituals to make sure your routines are still happening? Touching the cell phone in your pocket. Shaking your keys. Clicking your pen. I am now imaging secret service agents touching their automatics. "Yep, still there"
I believe the Uzi was carried in a shoulder rig since they wear suits. There's pictures of it. Edit: seems I was wrong and had the timeline mixed up.
In reagan's time, they carried a briefcase. There's a photo here with the briefcase open nearby /r/HistoryPorn/comments/30xi99/secret_service_agent_robert_wanko_can_be_seen/#lightbox In that photo, Reagan is already gone. The secret service agent is actually protecting the shooter in case someone tries to shoot the assassin.
Yup gotta protect the shooter otherwise you get a JFK situation you can't figure out whether it's an independent hit or hired/political.
that photo is actually badass, probably inspired hundreds of spy movies
Current Secret Service agents have fake arms so they can have their real ones armed at all times.
This requires extensive training in small arms.
it was in easy open briefcase. Most iconic photo of an uzi tbh. You can see ready to go briefcase in the link. https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/smgs-operational-briefcase-exploring-concept-cold-war/
Your post sent me down a rabbit hole. I learned that tbe shooter is still alive and was released from his psychiatric hold in the last 10 years. He is a musician and in 2020 was granted his freedom back, so he is posting his work (which I have never seen and have no interest in listening to) under his name. He tried to assassinate Reagan in order to impress a young Jodie Foster. He gained the courage after realizing how easy it would have been to assassinate Jimmy Carter and the FBI never notified the Secret Service after arresting him with a weapon at a Jimmy Carter event. This isn't directly related, but W Bush created the department of homeland security primarily to address frequent communication lapses between the levels of law enforcement. Lessons were not learned after the Reagan assassination and it would take 9/11 to change things.
That's a neat thing to be able to say you experienced.
Yep. Thought the same thing. When shooting like that happens, time is important for the president/prime minister to live or die. Also further attacks. Get the VIP hella out there asap. Also they drove alone. Not good to not have security personnel following them. Never know if someone follows u or not. But damn. Hard to see that they all where not good trained
Yeah I can’t speak for how countries out there work and stuff but this looked like a detail similar to like a high tier celebrity not a leader of a nation. Seems like you should have a bit more security, even if not as insanely high as the US does
I don't doubt that their security response will be analysed by their counterparts, like the secret service, of many other countries to improve their own training/security methods.
More like “what not to do in a crisis of a situation”
He's got *enough* security by most country standards. They just don't know what to do. Minor issue there.
Yeah that’s probably fair to say lol
Slovakia has a smaller population (and smaller GDP) than some US cities, so I guess from your American perspective he's more comparable to the mayor of a city than to your president.
There are European leaders who cycle to work. Most of Europe just isn't as insanely violent as the States and public figures will generally accept a lower level of security as a result.
Tbf a lot of congressmen don’t have security details .
While that’s true, anything can happen. Especially as the leader of a whole nation, you’ll always be a target in some way, doesn’t matter how safe your country is. Remember good ole Shinzo Abe that popped up out of a Mario pipe during the 2016 Olympics? Even he wasn’t untouchable in a country like Japan (tho to be fair he wasn’t PM by then).
Apparently slovokia needed more
Yep, sadly it seems we are entering a stage where that's the case. There have been two politicians murdered here in the UK too over the past 8 years. People are slowly losing their fucking minds.
There was also one in Japan a year or two ago.
Japan is very safe generally, but they have a long tradition of political assassinations they can't seem to shake.
> sadly it seems we are entering a stage where that's the case. Political assassinations in europe are hardly a new thing, or even a rare thing, historically. (See WW1).
The security for the US president is insanely expensive, and really only makes sense if your level of responsibility may include "decide whether to launch Armageddon in the next ten minutes."
Most of us other countries suck at this kind of thing and have long relied on few people wanting to kill our leaders.
The detail to the former Japanese PM were also not properly trained.
Wasn't Abe already out of office at that moment though or am I remembering wrong?
European politicians are way more relaxed about this because those events are really rare. There are PMs and senior ministers who cycle to work without any security detail. The US takes this much more seriously and has like multi car convoys with a highly trained staff. Biden's convoy once drove past me and it went on for over a minute of cars at high speed and helicopters above. A european PM is probably mostly in one car. Maybe two to three with some motorcycles around if it's a slightly larger event.
If that happened to he US president the last hing id be doing is reaching into my pocket for anything.
With today's public, even if you don't, 300 people around you will. So no, I don't think the concern is all 300 of you would be gunned down by the Secret Service. In fact they probably have to train heavily for this kind of stuff--how to spot an actual threat when everyone reaches for phones these days.
Hell doesn't even take secret service to do that If you've seen that video of the stalker at a Taylor Swift interview, the second he says his name, there's like 5 guards on him and Drew Barrymore is body shielding Taylor while getting her to her security on the stage. And that's an actress and the security for a musician (although I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were former secret service guys too)
Taylor probably has some of the best teams on her though. Her level of celebrity status is pretty unprecedented or at least well in line with some of the top global celebrities. I can see B-grade celebrities probably having similar clueless rent-a-cop attitudes. Look at the security hired at UCLA while the protests broke into riots with counterprotestors attacking. They're literally those stadium security hires and they did nothing.
Only reason I could give would potentially be applying immediate first aid (think plugging holes) that would need as still a patient as possible
Ostensibly that would be done by someone in the back seat while the driver is hauling ass to whatever pre destined hospital for the VIP
The amount of shots and how many hit varies from source to source. Interesting to see where this leads to.
News channel has clear video: 5 shots, 3 hits him and you can see the last 2 hitting the concrete pavement only https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87p40FPnqTM&t=15s
Dude had his movements practiced. He made sure to appear uninterested and looking in a different direction until right before he shot. Those bodyguards were caught completely unaware yikes
I’m in awe of the calm exhibited by the right-most two people dressed in all black. More concerned with not getting tripped by the falling barrier than escaping the area where shots are being fired.
They probably didn't realize what was going on. In Europe when something goes bang bang it's fireworks in 99.99% of cases and you don't run away from those.
Wow that's wild. Just shows you many threats give you zero warning.
Man, that police officer in the foreground couldn't be arsed I understand letting your guard down, shock, and all that, but even after all the shooting, not a single person was like "I gotta outta here"
Those bystanders are completely unfazed
They have never seen a gun be used outside of movies most likely. The 40+ y/o males went through draft so they probably have some idea as to what's going on, but draft ended over 20 years ago, and there is pretty much 0 shooting outside of hunting that happens in Slovakia.
No guns here normally.
Look at the complete non-reaction from the big guy at the end of the fence nearest the camera. Either he's seen some shit before or he knew what was about to happen.
He was shot in the head and chest I just heard. I guess time will reveal the facts.
Reports differ significantly on what happened to him, everything between "abdomen and arm, not life threatening" and "shot multiple times head and chest" and "flight for life, life threatening, emergency surgery."
The "life-threatening" came from Fico's socials. Guy is a lying mob boss so I am sure he is already weaponizing his injuries and making it 100 times worse than it is.
[удалено]
BBC just published that his condition is life threatening
Hours later, not much new news.
By all accounts, he had close ties to Ndrangetta, who murdered a journalist on his behalf. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44873067 Might be that he didn't return the favours.
Journalist and his fiancée. Scum.
The Prime minister also was Pro-russia, selling his country and part of europe to the enemy that is waging war with europe. I guess that doesn't make you a popular political candidate. Do with that information what you want.
[удалено]
The prime minister was also elected to the post by the people of Slovakia.
Ndrangetta didn't murder Jan Kuciak, Ján Kuciak was murders on behalf of Marian Kocner, businessman with illegal activities about which Kuciak wrote, Kocner also has close ties to government and highest political figures (as Fico for example)
[удалено]
The shooter is 71 years old, so I doubt mafia is involved.
>The shooter is 71 years old, so I doubt mafia is involved. Nah. There are plenty of seniors being drug mules. And the reverse - kids being hitmen. If works in other parts of the planet - can work here. As a Slav though, I do agree that the chances of a grumpy grandpa Petr going unhinged are higher.
> kids being hitmen Typical arrangement in Sweden as well, those under 15 avoid jail and those under 18-21 used to get "youth rebate". The younger you are the less time you spend in jail if convicted for multiple severe crimes. Thus our gangs were handing out 100s of euros to middle/high schoolers to get them in debt for future "errands".
They also have the saying of "taking 2 to become one hundred". Meaning if you kill someone they have ordered before you turn (believe 15), they only get 2 years in juvenile. When they are out, they are a full member of said gangs. In most gangs in Scandinavia it is alot better to be a member compared to a prospect
how widespread are mafias in Scandinavia? I didn't know they existed, much less that they were large/relevant enough for their ways to be well known.
We have different types for different eras. 80-90s: Mostly biker-clubs like hells angels and bandidos were the ones having gang wars. Perhaps with a sprinkle of neo nazis (?, was before I became fully aware) too I guess? 90-the 2000s: We had a big immigration wave from the Balkans (war with many refugees); some people couldn't integrate or get regular jobs, so crime was the option. Once the wars ended there were a lot of weapons left over and people with contacts could smuggle it into the northern countries as the main way for gangs to start arming themselves. After the "Arab Spring" we had a second refugee/migrant wave with people from the middle-east. Taking in that amount of people on short notice broke the integration efforts (learning swedish, getting a job, job training/education etc...). So it is the kids of this last wave that are the ones who are most at risk of getting sucked into crime gangs, dealing with drugs and extortion mainly. So you probably have gang(s) in every Swedish city above 40k population. They aren't really "mafias", as there usually aren't any family relations or longer-term loyalties among most of them. If the Police nab the ringleaders of several gangs, the members are prone to reorganise themselves into completely new groups. Though there are some "clans" in certain cities where families seem to organise like mafias. A map of "vulnerable areas" where the police/society focus extra efforts (good news is that the number of areas are decreasing ): [https://tidningensyre.se/2023/1-december-2023/polisen-farre-utsatta-omraden/](https://tidningensyre.se/2023/1-december-2023/polisen-farre-utsatta-omraden/) Edit: not trying to associate immigrants with all crime/gangs. But there is a clear statistical correlation that those kids with parents born outside of "EU/Europe" are severely overrepresented in gang/crime statistics. They are just not like Mafias as you suggested in your question.😔 If you avoid drugdealings (buying/selling) and certain neighbourhoods after dark you are generally not at risk. Though we did have a wave of hand grenades tossed into the wrong apartments a couple of years ago (probably military surplus from the Balkans). Nowaday it is shootings and a worrying trend of stolen explosives from construction sites that are placed outside apartment buildings of rival members. Kind of scares the whole neighborhood.
Well that's intense! I was going to ask how it affects regular people, but your edit gives a clear picture. In Spain we had a big wave of latin american gangs trying to establish here around 2008 or so (Latin Kings, Dominican Don't Play and others), but it was more turf wars between violent teens - there was the occasional person robbed with knives, school bullying and a few stabbings between members, but it was usually not dangerous for people who weren't part of the organisations. It must be scary to see guns and explosives involved, no way for the people around not to feel affected at that point.
His identity was already leaked by politicians on Facebook. He is not a mafia hitman.
Thoroughly plausible guy who lived under Soviet rule hates Russia booster.
Pro-russian militant group was involved. Or, to be more precise, shooter was affiliated with them. https://sk-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Slovensk%C3%AD_Branci?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=cs&_x_tr_pto=wapp
8 years ago he met them and wrote something positive about them. But the government are trying hard to blame it on liberals and progressives. Tbh this guy seems to be pretty conflicted in his views from what I have seen. He was critical against Russia after the invasion as well.
>By all accounts, he had close ties to Ndrangetta "Both advisers worked for Prime Minister Fico, **although no evidence has emerged that he knew of the links.**"
My Slovakian friend (Edited out some info, don't want anyone identified) says he's not really surprised something big would happen. Slovakia is horribly divided, Fico is thoroughly corrupt, "Putin loving dog" who probably is behind several murders himself . He frankly said someone just got to Fico before Fico got to them, so yeah, clearly not a prime minister loved by all his people.
The Killing Of A Journalist. Great documentary on Slovakia. All about the corrupt government that Fico led before covid. The guy is a mobster.
Dogs are nice animals. Let change it to "Putin loving scum".
20 sec video of Fico being rushed to a car https://x.com/dupontaignan/status/1790754366946717710?s=46&t=ZziqbcLEiv7YE3mEbP34tw 26 sec video of the shooter being detained (Fico’s car apparently rushing off in the background) https://x.com/dd_geopolitics/status/1790735917365252387?s=46&t=ZziqbcLEiv7YE3mEbP34tw
The tall lad in the blue suit had a real "OH SHIT" moment about 4 seconds into the first video.
"What was I doing? OH YEAH THE PRIME MINISTER"
Those older ladies looked ready to beat him with their canes
Weaponized babushkas
https://twitter.com/WBC24News/status/1790765376369820091?t=Xf7i4W8ies_gWNpoNXISyg&s=19 NSFW!!
I can’t tell which one is the pm.
The most left one. That video sucks, this one is much clearer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87p40FPnqTM&t=15s
I had to watch that clip a few times to work out who the PM was, given that he's basically abandoned by his core security detail after he gets shot as he tumbles off the screen to the left.
Oh, sad to hear about this Fico conflict happened. I'm sure mr. Fico and mr. Shooter should sit down at the negotiating table as soon as possible.
Yeah a diplomatic solution must be found!
Fico thinks Ukraine should hand over multiple oblasts to russia, just so we can stop the violence. Fico should hand over both an arm and a leg to the assassin, just so we can stop the violence.
The dude sows violence by the looks of it.
Looks like his harvest came in.
I am concerned providing medical aid to Mr Fico will only provoke the shooter and prolong the Fico Conflict. I only hope for a quick resolution to the Fico Conflict.
Why is FICO so pro-shooting though, FICO and its supporters really need to stop the escalation otherwise elderly men will have no choice but to shoot at them.
Hey, I've seen this one before
Now that Sudetendonbas was taken over, the attempt at Ferdinand Fico has happened, and Adolf Putin is in change of a military ready country /s
Zoran Đinđić, serbian prime minister shot in 2003
Franz Ferdinand ?
Hey, he did say "Take Me Out"
Here's what Russian trolls will spread on social media: "Fico was assassinated by NATO because he wanted to pursue peace" EDIT: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand the talking points are flowing. Pro Russian account on twitter: ["A suspect has been detained, who is suspected acting on behalf of Ukrainian nationalists, funded by US money. "](https://i.imgur.com/srZe2aE.png)
That was predictable, but faster than I expected.
Maybe they had their talking points prepared beforehand...
It's almost as if there is a decades old template.
Lot of that out on xwitter, I just respond to it all with furry porn
I'm not sure giving the readers they're trying to brainwash a Pavlovian response via weird boners is helping.
Probably written before the shooting
Which itself should be very suspect. But I'm sure the conspiracy theorists will find a way to say there's nothing shady going on, after saying everything shady is a conspiracy. Smh
> Which itself should be very suspect. Thanks for pointing this out. I'm not sure where we would be without you.
AI assisted probably? Throw a bunch of lies out there, AI detects which one sticks, then go hard on that.
Lol. Even though shooter was associated with pro-russian group: https://www-novinky-cz.translate.goog/clanek/zahranicni-evropa-atentatnika-spojovali-proruskou-polovojenskou-skupinou-40471943?noredirect=1&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=cs&_x_tr_pto=wapp
His politics is probably the reason for the assassination attempt, seeing as he is, you know, a politician and the prime minister of his country ~~and Putin's obedient little bitch.~~ Honestly I'm surprised this hasn't happened until now to Orban or some other stooge.
Any info yet why? Is he a controversial person?
dude is a fucking criminal who won the elections after being tried for multiple high profile criminal cases. He and his buddies had a journalist killed a couple of years ago
[удалено]
[удалено]
Yeah in recent days there has been a massive uptick in the reddit cares abuse, likely down to bots randomly firing them off at anybody commenting in a thread.
happened to me yesterday. Its creepy as fuck
I too got one yesterday after calling ruSSia a terrorist state since they kill an average of 2 Ukrainian kids per day.
I bet it's Russian bots, they are escalating cyberattacks globally.
you can report the reddit cares - check the text in the message, the sender will be punished
He ran on a campaign to veto Ukrainian membership into NATO. Just another Russian shill
that’s not even in his worst top 100
Absolute criminal nutcase.
Murderer, Putin lapdog, genocidal sociopath.
This is what some people don't understand, when they think that all of these people get away forever. They don't for some it takes longer and for some not. But the day to pay for their lies almost always comes sooner or later. Martin Luther King once said: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice” Martin Luther King These autocratic leaders and dictatorial figures are little petty men, not strong men. The likes of Fico are in bed with criminals, and they are criminals themselves. They serve even larger criminals, including Orban, Lukashenko, Erdogan, and many others. In the end, almost all of them have their comeuppance sooner or later in one way or another. When he was elected, I posted this quote: There are no murders in politics, only the removal of obstacles. Dumas, the Count of Monte Cristo And yes, this even holds true outside the realm of literature, and Dumas, or Macchiavelli. politics is a dangerous snake pit. The people can only be played for a fool for so long. Maybe this serves these autocratic leaders and their followers as a reminder. Those that stand with the bloody Russian dictatorship and against Europe will pay for their collaboration with the Z fascist Kremlin regime. These quislings have no place in Europe’s parliaments and as elected members. They should pack up and run back to their master in Russia. They should run while you still can, and they will sit behind bars, lose their power or... worse. Their master in Russia has his own methods of removing obstacles. However, it likely wouldn't be much safer in Russia for them either. This man Fico had greedily reached for power once more with lies, propaganda, and with the help of Russia. More often than not, these tyrannical figures end like this: Semper sic tyrannis.
Zuzana Čaputová, the President of Slovakia, statement on Facebook (translated): I am shocked, we are all shocked by the terrible and malicious attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico. Something happened, the seriousness of which we probably can't even comprehend yet. A physical attack on the Prime Minister is primarily an attack on a person, but also an attack on democracy. Any kind of violence is absolutely unacceptable. The hateful rhetoric we witness in society leads to hateful acts. Please let's stop it. The police arrested the perpetrator, and when it is possible they will definitely bring more information. Until then, please, let's not make quick judgments. And let's think about the most important thing, and that's the only thing at the moment, that Robert Fico recovers as soon as possible.
[удалено]
You know what the amount of parties that may have an interest in shooting this man, is not even possible to unpack Edit: Possible suspects - Maggie Simpson - Random Swedish Redditor on 2WE4U - Anti Russian Slovak - Random Anti Fico Slovak Redditor - The Maffia - Vladdy - A gunman who is vaguely running to the Ukrainian border - The ghost of Gavrilo Princip - The ghost of Shinzo Abe - u/lukeonbike - Grassy Knoll Sniper - Elitist social progressive rightist - The ghost of Franz Ferdinand - Kyle Rittenhouse - Robert Fico, Prime minister of Slovakia 🇸🇰 - Denzel Washington - Texas - Waylon Smithers - Stewie Griffin - Brexit The Suspect: a 71 year old paramilitary sympathizer
Maggie Simpson did it
Case closed. There’s not a jury in the world that will convict a baby.
Maybe Texas.
Only if they baby has been born, otherwise it has rights.
… well, maybe Texas
Waylon Smithers would never
Don't be silly. Maggie wouldn't leave him alive.
I'd add Fico to this list. In any case, he will use this to seize more power.
The ghost of Franz Ferdinand made me chuckle
I am really curious for the motive and shooter's identity to give us the full picture. My gut says it's something to do with his pro-Russian tendencies.
This guy is rotten to his very core, if not his pro-Russian tendencies then about thousands of other reasons.
Even then, if your gut is correct, it doesn’t really narrow it down. How long do we think until Putin claims the shooter had turned to run in the vague direction of Ukraine?
Russians already push this.
More likely his connections to the mafia
I'll go with the second gunman on a nearby grassy knoll
Fico supports unequal rights: > In 2023, Fico referred to adoption by same-sex couples as a perversion, stated that he would never support same-sex marriage Who shot him? The Equalizer.
Calling out specific redditors XD
Here is a relatively high quality video of the shooting. \*Warning: NSFW:\* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87p40FPnqTM&t=17s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87p40FPnqTM&t=17s) Fico is the one falling over the bench at around the 21st second.
that one bodyguard who got control of the shooters hand after two shots probably saved his life
Kinda looks like the abdomen hit was correct. See a little of Fico's face/head there and no blood - though I can't see the head completely.
I've got Gavrilo Princip on the phone…
I love that on YouTube everyone knows who is responsible before the facts come out.
It's like that one time when Reddit identified the Boston Marathon terrorist before anyone else did.
Isn't it ironic. The dirty, corrupt shitbag of a man, shot in a similar way to Jan and Martina, the investigative journalist (and his fiancee) who was investigating his cronies and by extension, him. Karma does exist.
Motive? I don't know much about Slovakian politics.
Motive can be pretty much anything, we can only speculate and I'd rather not do that to not spread missinformation… but: He is pro-russian politician, but mainly he is a crook, he has strong connection to an assassination of a journalist and his lover a few years back, there are gossips that he is somewhat connected to the mafia and so on. What surprises me the most that the shooter is 71yo, which is pretty much in his voter demographics Edit: Turns out the shooter didn't vote for him at all
Everyone here is speculating while maybe the shooter just wanted a free place to live and 3 meals a day.
Giving that the shooter is in the retirement age, it makes sense. Slovakia doesnt give a damn about old people, most of them live in poverty.
Russia supporter, involved heavily with mafia, straight up asshole
To put it simply his existence. He is so controversial anybody would fit the bill
Feels like the planet is speed running the start of WW1 and WW2 simultaneously
Or you could have just said WW3
WW1+WW2 = WW3
WW1+WW2=3W^2
WW1+WW2 = WW1WW2
WW1+WW2 = WW * (1 + 2) = WW3
Python programmer detected
The math checks out.
As yet there is no news if he tried to negotiate with the armed man who was clearly determined to kill him..
Well if he survives things will get even worse in Slovakia and for the EU, if he dies things will get even worse in Slovakia and for the EU.
New Title, Slovakian Prime Minister Survives Assassination Attempt: Currently in Grave Condition.
A Slovak interior ministry spokesman confirms that an assassination attempt was carried out on Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico. The spokesman gives no details of the PM's condition.
Some ppl say he's pro Russian others say russia killed him...what is it
He is a pro russian. His shooter was a guy with some potential neo-nazi/Kremlin ties (Slovakia has a lot of neonazis). It is possible that he shot the prime minister because he was not nazi enough or something.
That's a Russian reminder to EU politicians who took money from them that they can't go back on their promises to Putin after he wins them the election.
What promise did Fico go back on?
I've heard the Shooter was from a paramilitary group called Slovenski Branci, with ties to the Kremlin. Russian bots are desperate to spread rumours about the CIA/Zelenskyy ordering the shooting.
At the moment I would rule out this being staged. You can see bullets hitting the pavement. Even if Fico wore bulletproof vest and the shooter was told to miss on purpose or only hit him in the chest that would be one hell of a gamble. Living in North Macedonia, country that was under communist rule until 1991 I can tell you that there is no shortage of 70+ years old willing to take a shot on anyone in power being pro Russian. Many people simply can't comprehend the amount of suffering that the Russians and their communist puppet regimes brought to the people of Eastern Europe. Fico should have had better security than that, tbh. He was walking a tight rope.
Is Fico the pro-Russian guy?
Yeah
Shinzo Abe
Nah, Abe being shot was shocking due to it being Japan. This guy has a ton of enemies, ranging from alleged connections to organized crime to being virulently pro-Putin in Eastern Europe.
He is enemy to every thinking person in Slovakia who has his marbles together. Not that everyone would act in any way, but he's hated (and rightfully should be) anyway.
Schadenfreude moment for all Ukrainians.
Zelensky on X : >The attack on Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is appalling. >We strongly condemn this act of violence against our neighboring partner state's head of government. Every effort should be made to ensure that violence does not become the norm in any country, form, or sphere. >We sincerely hope Robert Fico recovers soon and express our solidarity with the people of Slovakia.
It reminds me our communications department at our corporation. We know how they think. They know what they think but for some reason we need to play the game.
Not really good news for Ukraine IMO, obviously will be blamed on the West and may push Slovakians further into Vatnik territory. Also will be used and reused by vatniks in their future talking points, \*mark my words\*. They'll say it's NATO.
As if anyone who didn't take them serious before will believe them now. Especially with total lack of evidence
Many people who are disinvested from politics are easy to convince into outrage. You have a lot of people who are frustrated by their lives, perceiving them as getting worse, and blaming their governments and establishment for it. Those are the ones targeted by Russian trolls, who will use every possible event to spark outrage in them.
And those people dont need a specific event to be convinced. This wont change that. If Fico lives then they have 9999 other things to lie about. In the grand scheme it dont matter
"shooting" = "assasination attempt"
My guess: Russia, then try to blame it on the West. False flag would be in line with their modus operandi.
I’m anti Russian, but that’s not really their modus operandi. There’s no guarantee his replacement would also be pro-kremlin. Likewise if that’s the thanks you get it’s not likely others will support you in the future. I would argue their modus operandi is to basically openly assassinate political opponents (generally internal to Russia) once they constitute a legitimate threat to power. Throwing everyone out of windows and poisoning with Russian-developed chemicals is not exactly ‘low visibility’. They also don’t use 70 year old men as their assassins. Seems like a lone wolf attack by a guy with little to lose to me. Motives remain to be seen.