Alarm bells Behind the rise in violent attacks on Europe's politicians

‘Politicians really need tothink about the rhetoric they use because the fallout can be severe’

- Nimo Omer

The attack on the Slovakian prime minister, Robert Fico, has horrified leaders across Europe who have voiced condemnation and called for calm in an increasingly febrile political landscape. In the build-up to next month's European elections, there is an unstable atmosphere in many countries across the continent - with political violence and unrest becoming more common.

Who is Robert Fico and why is he such a divisive figure?
Fico began his career as a member of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia when it was in power and later founded the Smer party in 1999. This is Fico's fourth term as Slovakia's prime minister, having won elections in 2006, 2012 and 2016, but he had to resign in 2018 amid mass protests over the murder of an investigative journalist and his fiancee. That left Fico in opposition for five years, from where his party adopted increasingly rightwing views on immigration, press freedom and LGBTQ+ rights.

He was elected in 2023, on a more anti-EU, pro-Putin platform: cutting funding for Ukraine was a key pledge in his campaign. His polarising political style has created deep rifts in Slovakia - critics have accused him of undermining the rule of law and media freedoms.