MINSK, June 3. /TASS/. The assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was the result of a hate campaign unleashed in the country by his political opponents, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

According to him, the tragic events in Slovakia unfolded as follows. "After Prime Minister Fico's party won the elections and it became quite clear that this government would follow a different course than the previous liberal government, and that Prime Minister Fico would rather pursue a sovereign policy and advocate peace like we do, a big hate campaign was launched against him," the top Hungarian diplomat said.

Szijjarto pointed out that the campaign against Fico was unleashed by the liberal media and liberal politicians. "It was really a hate campaign. And it led to an assassination attempt. Five shots at a prime minister in Central Europe at the beginning of the 21st century. This is crazy," the foreign minister emphasized.

The assassination attempt on Fico took place on May 15 in the town of Gandlova in western Slovakia. The prime minister suffered several gunshot wounds and has since undergone several surgeries. The attacker was arrested. He is 71-year-old writer Juraj Cintula. He is charged with attempted murder for political reasons.

Fico served as prime minister of Slovakia from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. He became head of government again in October 2023. Fico disagrees with the EU leadership's policy toward Ukraine and does not support arms deliveries to the Ukrainian army.