Slovak PM Fico Plans To Work Again After Post-shooting Recovery

Slovak PM Robert Fico. (Wikimedia Commons/EU2017EE Estonian Presidentic)

JAKARTA - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday he might be returning to work by the end of this month or early next month, in his first public statement since the assassination attempt on May 15.

PM Fico is recovering home after being shot five times from close range, while greeting his supporters after attending a government meeting in the city of Handlova, central Slovakia, causing him to undergo surgery for about five hours.

In a video message posted on Facebook, PM Fico called his attacker an opposition activist, saying there was no reason to believe the shooting was an act of "the alone madman".

However, PM Fico said he did not hate the perpetrators of the attack and would not sue for compensation.

"On May 15, a Slovakian opposition activist tried to kill me at Handlova because of my political views," PM Fico said in the video, adding that medical staff had prevented the worst.

"If everything goes well, I can return to work in stages at the turn of June and July," he said.

Wearing a catcing shirt with arms rolled up and filmed from the waist up while sitting in a black office chair, PM Fico appeared to be in good health.

His attacker, identified by prosecutor Juraj C (71) was arrested on the spot after the attack and charged with attempted premeditated murder.

PM Fico said the opposition's hatred and aggressiveness towards his government had peaked after a strict presidential election in April won by the ruling coalition candidate.

He accused the opposition parties previously in power of trying to eliminate his party, SMER, by "using" criminal law, but saying they had never faced scrutiny from the European Union.

Opposition continues to enjoy Western support to this day, said PM Fico, because his government has different opinions, particularly regarding the Ukraine war.

PM Fico said the European Union and NATO had only one acceptable opinion, namely the Ukraine war "must continue in any way to weaken the Russian Federation".

"Anyone who does not identify himself with one mandatory opinion will be immediately labeled a Russian agent, and marginalized politically at an international level," Fico criticized in the video, published with English translation texts.