Slovak PM returns to work two months after attack

Photo: Jaroslav Novak TASR Associated Press Robert Fico, upon his arrival for a press conference on Monday in Slovenska Nova Ves, western Slovakia

France Media Agency to Bratislava

Published yesterday at 12:55 p.m.

• Europe

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced that he returned to work on Tuesday, almost two months after being the victim of an assassination attempt by a sniper on May 15.

M. Fico, 59, was hit by four bullets at close range after a remote government meeting in central Slovakia and underwent two lengthy surgeries at a nearby hospital.

< p>Following the attack, the suspected shooter, identified by Slovak media as poet Juraj Cintula, 71, was charged with a terrorist attack and placed in pre-trial detention.

Mr. Fico was released from hospital on May 31 and made his first public appearance at a ceremony near Bratislava last Friday.

According to Slovak media, Mr. Fico went to Tuesday's cabinet meeting using a tunnel to avoid journalists.

“Dear progressive and liberal media and dear opposition, I apologize for surviving but I'm back,” Mr. Fico said on Facebook, posting a photo of himself taken in his office.

Due to his injuries , Mr. Fico walks with a crutch. He has also visibly lost weight.

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Mr. Fico leads a three-party coalition consisting of his centrist Smer-SD party, the centrist Hlas party and the far-right SNS party, which governs the country of 5.4 million, a member of the EU and NATO .

After taking office last fall, Mr. Fico's government stopped its military aid to Ukraine.

The prime minister himself has called for peace talks with Russia, like his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban.

In a speech, he praised Orban's controversial trip to Moscow, saying he “would have liked to join him” if he had been in good enough health.

The coalition led by Mr. Fico drew sharp criticism after passing laws seen as endangering press freedom and the independence of the judiciary.

Mr. Fico also called for building a wall capable of stopping “progressive and liberal ideologies,” comparing them to a cancer.