What to Know About the Assassination Attempt on Slovak Leader Fico

The shooting of Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico on Wednesday was the first assassination attempt on a European national leader since 2003, when Serbian PM Zoran Djindjic was killed. With Fico, 59, suffering life-threatening wounds, the attack raised questions not just for his country but for the European Union, with which Slovakia has had differences under Fico’s leadership.

Fico, leader of the Smer party he founded in 1999, has dominated Slovakian politics since the fall of communism more than three decades ago. He was forced from office in 2018 amid mass protests over the killing of an investigative reporter probing corruption. He won a fourth term in office last year, leading a three-way coalition that’s skeptical of the EU and has taken a hard line on immigration.