BRATISLAVA
\nSlovakia\u2019s Prime Minister Robert Fico suffered a surprise defeat in EU elections to the opposition liberals on Sunday, weeks after he was gravely wounded in an assassination attempt, his party said.
\nFico\u2019s left-wing nationalist Smer-SD party expressed \u201ccongratulations to the winner of the election, Progressive Slovakia\u201d and its new European parliament members, on its Facebook page.
\nFico, 59, is an opponent of military aid to Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.
\nThe latest opinion polls had indicated that he was favourite to top the vote, in what was seen as a sign that the assassination bid had driven up support for his party.
\nProgressive Slovakia (PS) won 27.81 percent of the votes in Sunday\u2019s election, meaning six seats in the European Parliament, according to results widely reported in Slovak media ahead of their official publication.
\nSmer-SD won 24.76 percent, yielding it five seats in the 720-member EU assembly.Far-right party Republika came third with 12.53 percent and two seats, the results showed.
\nFico was shot four times at close range on May 15 as he greeted supporters after a government meeting.
\nThe alleged gunman, identified by Slovak media as 71-year-old poet Juraj Cintula, has been charged with premeditated attempted murder and remanded in custody.
\nIn a video released on Wednesday, Fico blamed his opponents for fostering the \u201chatred\u201d that led to the attack.Political analyst Daniel Kerekes suggested the attack had mobilised PS supporters to vote just as much as Smer-SD ones.
\nPS chairman Michal Simecka, a former vice-president of the European Parliament, said voters had a sent \u201ca very important message to this government: slow down, because you cannot do whatever you want.\u201d Turnout was higher than during previous EU elections in the country at just under 35 percent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not only Smer-SD that has taken advantange of the attack. The opposition parties, particularly PS, whose voters are worried about the situation in Slovakia, have also made significant progress,\u201d he told media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRATISLAVA Slovakia\u2019s Prime Minister Robert Fico suffered a surprise defeat in EU elections to the opposition liberals on Sunday, weeks after he was gravely wounded in an assassination attempt, his party said. Fico\u2019s left-wing nationalist Smer-SD party expressed \u201ccongratulations to the winner of the election, Progressive Slovakia\u201d and its new European parliament members, on its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-412200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n