Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico Shot in Assassination Attempt

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at an assassination attempt on Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, Russia’s assault on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, and U.S. efforts to secure an arms deal for Israel.

‘Life-Threatening Condition’

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, 59, was shot several times—including in the abdomen—on Wednesday in an apparent assassination attempt, according to the leader’s official Facebook page. An assailant fired four shots outside a cultural center in the city of Handlova, roughly 100 miles northeast of the capital, while Fico was meeting with supporters. He has since been rushed to a hospital in Banska Bystrica, where he is in “life-threatening condition.” No one else was injured in the attack, and authorities reportedly detained the suspected gunman at the scene.

Bratislava’s parliament adjourned its session until further notice, and two of Slovakia’s main opposition parties—Progressive Slovakia and Freedom and Solidarity—canceled a planned protest against a controversial bid to give Fico’s administration full control over public broadcasting. This was “a brutal and ruthless” attack, President Zuzana Caputova said.

“An assassination attempt on the Prime Minister is a threat to everything that has adorned Slovak democracy so far,” close Fico ally and President-elect Peter Pellegrini posted on X. “I am horrified by where the hatred towards another political opinion can lead. We don’t have to agree on everything, but there are plenty of ways to express our disagreement democratically and legally.” The country’s interior minister described the shooting as “politically motivated” in comments made at a news conference outside the hospital where Fico is being treated.

Foreign leaders—including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas—have also condemned the violence. The attack came three weeks before the European Parliament holds elections.

Fico, a populist and head of the leftist Smer party, is a three-time premier known for his opposition to Western support for Ukraine and his friendship with right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. In 2018, Fico resigned from office amid large-scale anti-government protests against corruption accusations and the killing of an investigative journalist who had been looking into alleged government graft.

However, Fico’s departure did not hinder his political ambitions. Smer won parliamentary elections last September by campaigning on a pro-Russian, anti-U.S. platform. Immediately upon taking power, Fico’s government cut off Slovakian military aid to Kyiv, and in January, he accused Ukraine of being “completely under the influence and control of the USA” and therefore “not an independent and sovereign country.” Thousands of people have protested Fico’s policies and rhetoric over the past seven months, accusing his administration of stifling free speech and punishing political dissidents.

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What We’re Following

Push toward Kharkiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky canceled all of his foreign trips in the coming days to focus on Russia’s advance into Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region, where Ukrainian troops were forced to retreat from the region’s capital city on Wednesday. Moscow’s latest assault began last week and has pushed Ukraine’s army closer to its breaking point. Already, Ukraine has been forced to deploy reserve units to combat Russian troops closing in on Ukraine’s second-largest city. Zelensky said these issues have been exacerbated by delays in deliveries of U.S. military aid.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a $2 billion funding package for Ukraine during his trip to Kyiv this week. Around $1.6 billion will be from the appropriations already earmarked for Ukraine in the emergency spending package that Congress passed last month. The remaining $400 million will come from existing funds that have yet to be allocated.

Weapons deliveries. The Biden administration informed Congress on Wednesday that it intends to transfer more than $1 billion in weapons to Israel, though a specific timeline for doing so was not given. The delivery must face congressional review before it is approved and transported. This process could take months if not longer—especially as some Democrats continue to criticize the White House’s handling of the war.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the package may contain $700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles, and $60 million in mortar rounds. It is unclear whether it will also include the shipment of 3,500 bombs that U.S. President Joe Biden paused last week over concerns that it could be used against the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where an ongoing Israeli operation is worsening the ongoing humanitarian crisis for the roughly 1.4 million Palestinians sheltering there.

Israel said on Wednesday that its troops have continued to “eliminate” militants in eastern Rafah as nearly 450,000 people flee the area. More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began seven months ago, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and at least 82 people were killed on Tuesday alone.

Crimes against humanity. A Swiss court sentenced former Gambian Interior Minister Ousman Sonko to 20 years in prison on Wednesday for crimes against humanity—specifically, intentional homicide, torture, and false imprisonment. Sonko served under former President Yahya Jammeh from 2006 to 2016 before applying for asylum in Switzerland in November of that year. He was arrested two months later.

“The long arm of the law is catching up with Yahya Jammeh’s accomplices all around the world, and hopefully will soon catch up with Jammeh himself,” said Reed Brody, a U.S. human rights lawyer who attended the trial. Jammeh has been accused of repressing political dissidents and journalists during his 22-year reign. Human Rights Watch called the sentencing a “monumental” verdict. Sonko maintains his innocence.

Odds and Ends

Rather than a campfire under a starry sky, around 130 students in Rome got to see the stage lights of an opera house for their overnight adventure. The Teatro Costanzi, completed in 1880, opened its doors over the weekend for a special sleepover to promote music education in Italy. Some children reported seeing the spirit of soprano singer Emma Carelli, who managed the theater a century ago. The more famous phantom of the opera, however, did not make an appearance.