BRATISLAVA, June 5. /TASS/. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who survived an assassination attempt on May 15, has recorded a video address in which he says he intends to return to his duties by the end of June or early July.

"On May 15, in the town of Gandlova [in the west of the country], an activist of the Slovak [liberal] opposition tried to kill me because of my political views," the prime minister said in a video message posted on his Facebook (a social media site banned in Russia since it is owned by Meta corporation deemed extremist by the Russian authorities). "If [the recovery process] goes well, I will be able to gradually return to work by the end of June," he said.

Fico added that he does not hate the man who shot him. "The time has come for me to take the first step, and that is forgiveness," he emphasized. Three weeks after the assassination attempt, the prime minister seemed to have lost a lot of weight.

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, a 71-year-old writer Juraj Cintula, was arrested. 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.