“CIRCLE OF HATRED”
Pellegrini, who won last month’s presidential vote and is a political ally of Fico, called for calm and urged political parties to halt campaigning for the EU parliament election when far-right parties are expected to gain votes.
The biggest opposition party, centrist Progressive Slovakia, and others announced that they had already stopped their election lobbying.
Slovakia’s political scene has been divided for years between pro-European and nationalist-leaning camps.
Disinformation and attacks on social media featured heavily during the latest election campaign.
Pellegrini, who takes office in June, said in a joint statement with outgoing President Zuzana Caputova that Slovakia should avoid “further confrontation”.
The two politicians represent rival political camps but Caputova said they wanted “to send a signal of understanding” as she urged an end to “the vicious circle of hatred”.
Surgeons spent hours operating on Fico to save the life of the 59-year-old.
Footage just after the shooting showed security agents grabbing a wounded Fico from the ground and bundling him into a car, while other officers handcuffed a man on the pavement.
Fico, whose party won the general election last September, is a four-time prime minister accused of swaying his country’s foreign policy in favour of Russia.
