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By Rachel Dobkin
Weekend Reporter
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Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia and ally of President Vladimir Putin, issued a warning on Telegram after an assassination attempt in Slovakia, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in serious condition after being shot five times in the town of Handlová in broad daylight on Wednesday. Alleged gunman Juraj Cintula, a 71-year-old writer and poet from Levice in the southern-central part of the country, was charged on Thursday with attempted murder.
Slovak Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok said the attack was "politically motivated" and Cintula's "decision was born closely after the presidential election."
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In reaction to the shooting, Medvedev, a former Russian president and prime minister, said on Telegram, translated into English: "Is it surprising that for the first time in decades, an assassination attempt was made in Europe on a politician who took a reasonable position towards Russia? By the way, by no means pro-Russian. Just a pragmatist and a non-Russophobe. Of course not."
Fico assumed office in October 2023 after running a campaign on promises to halt military aid to Ukraine, condemnation of sanctions against Russia for its invasion and criticism of LGBTQ+ rights. He served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and again between 2012 and 2018.
Medvedev said that Fico "personifies the part of the European establishment that has not lost touch with reality and does not want its citizens to turn into grey radioactive ashes...There are only a few people like Prime Minister Slovaks [Fico] in Europe. And they urgently need to take care of their safety."
Newsweek reached out to the Russian government via online form for comment.
Medvedev added that the assassination attempt is "the quintessence of the new Europe – moronic and Russophobic, vassal-unbridled and completely headless...Ready to throw its citizens into the furnace of selfish American policy."
After wishing Fico a quick recovery, Medvedev warned: "Now supporters of Bandera are trying to kill European leaders as well."
Stepan Bandera was the leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists during World War II. He is a divisive figure, with many in western Ukraine seeing him as a freedom fighter against Soviet Union domination. Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine think of him as a fascist ally to Nazi Germany head Adolf Hitler.
Bandera is employed in Russian propaganda and Putin has used it to justify his February 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine, claiming that Moscow needed to "denazify" Kyiv. Ukraine, the U.S. and multiple experts on the region have denied Russia's claim that the war-torn country—whose president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is Jewish—is corrupted by Nazis.
Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for House affairs during the Obama administration, denounced Medvedev's remarks.
"The attack on Fico was horrific and a reminder of Europe's long history of political extremism," Rubin told Newsweek via text message on Thursday. "It was unacceptable and should make clear to all of the continents' politicians the importance of moderating their language, which is why Medvedev's comment is so unacceptable, as he seeks to incite rather than calm.
"One thing is certain: Russia is fomenting extremism across the continent through its repression at home and aggression abroad. The sooner that it halts its unjustified assault on Ukraine, the more likely this extremism will diminish."
Update 5/16/24, 3:02 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Joel Rubin.
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