Slovak MEP receives death threats

Slovakian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and Social Democrat Ľuboš Blaha has announced that he received death threats and has given a statement to the police as a victim in the case.

"A deranged resident of Bratislava threatened to shoot me. I provided a statement to the police as a victim. A crazy man threatened to kill me," Blaha wrote on his Telegram channel, Caliber.Az reports citing the Russian media.

Blaha said the threat came from a 75-year-old pensioner who called the police himself to announce his plan to commit murder. The Bratislava resident informed the police that he rejected Blaha's views.

"Several months ago, I might have ignored such threats, as I have received numerous threats over the years, especially following the wave of Russophobia that surged in 2022. However, after an opposition activist nearly killed [Slovak Prime Minister and Social Democrat] Robert Fico, I must be careful," wrote Blaha, who, like the Prime Minister, advocates for the immediate cessation of the military conflict in Ukraine.

On May 15, 2024, Fico was shot four times at close range in the former mining town of Handlová in central Slovakia after chairing an offsite cabinet meeting. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition, underwent several surgeries, and is now recuperating at his home in Bratislava.

In a recorded video address, Fico said he “forgives” the man who tried to kill him. But he swiftly blamed the “politically unsuccessful and frustrated” opposition for the circumstances that led to the shooting, calling the assailant the opposition’s “messenger of evil and political hatred,” adding that he has “no reason to believe this was an attack by a lone madman.”

The shooter, Juraj Cintula – a 71-year-old poet and former security guard – reportedly opposed Fico’s media policies and his government’s stance on Ukraine. But as an anti-minority, anti-immigrant activist with ties to an ultra-nationalist group that has acted as a pro-Russia propaganda tool, Cintula could hardly be described as a supporter of the progressive liberal opposition, let alone its “messenger.”