2 months after assassination

Slovakian head of government Fico is back again

This picture of Robert Fico was taken in February of this year on the sidelines of an EU summit.

(Bild: APA/AP)

Almost two months ago, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico narrowly escaped death when he was shot by a man after a cabinet meeting. Now the left-wing populist politician has returned to work and "apologized" for his actions.

"Dear progressive, liberal media and dear opposition, I apologize for surviving, but I'm back," Fico wrote in a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday. He also published a photo of himself in his office (see below).

Slovakian media reported that Fico had reached the cabinet meeting via a tunnel on Tuesday in order to avoid journalists. The 59-year-old head of government was gunned down on May 15 after a cabinet meeting in the small town of Handlova by a man identified by the media as the 71-year-old poet Juraj Cintula. He justified his act with hatred of Fico and the government, using similar wording to the liberal opposition. The 71-year-old is in custody. The crime is being treated as a "particularly serious terrorist crime".

(Bild: APA/AP)

Walks with crutches, has lost a lot of weight
After two lengthy operations, Fico was released from hospital at the end of May and appeared in public again for the first time last Friday. He walked with the help of crutches and had visibly lost weight (see picture above). In a speech at a ceremony near the capital Bratislava, Fico praised his Hungarian colleague Viktor Orbán for his controversial trip to Moscow. He would have gladly accompanied him if his health had allowed it, he said. 

Despite widespread criticism from the EU and Ukraine, Orbán had met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for talks on the war in Ukraine just a few days after his country took over the EU Council Presidency.