The Enigma of Juraj Chintula, Man Accused of Targeting Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico

The Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is reported to be “between life and death” after the alleged shooter, a 71-year-old leftist writer Juraj Chintula, targeted him, according to Slovak media. The suspect was apprehended by law enforcement while the Slovak government leader remains “in critical condition”.

“Come here, Robo!” These words, recounted by witnesses, were uttered by the assailant of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico just seconds before four shots were fired at him at the conclusion of a Slovak government meeting at a cultural center in the city of Handlova on Wednesday, May 15th.

The head of the government, critically wounded, notably in the abdomen and head, was urgently hospitalised.

Juraj Chintula

The alleged shooter was apprehended at the scene of the violent attack.

According to the Slovak news agency APA and several national and local media outlets, the suspect is Juraj Chintula, a 71-year-old Slovak writer residing in the city of Levice, known for his leftist political leanings.

Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok “believes he can confirm” this identity, he told journalists.

At this stage of the investigation, authorities have not confirmed the assailant’s motivations. However, in a video shared on social media and cited by the former Slovak communist newspaper Pravda, the writer, filmed sitting and wounded in the head, states in what appears to be an initial interrogation: “I do not agree with the government’s policies.”

When questioned by an unidentified man, he adds: “Why is RTVS [Radio Slovakia International, Editor’s note] attacked? Why is Judge Mazák [former President of the Judicial Council, Editor’s note] dismissed?” This is a direct reference to the tightening grip of Robert Fico’s government on the judiciary, amid suspicions of corruption involving the Slovak leader.

Founder of a “Movement Against Violence”

Known for his poetry, writer Juraj Chintula is said to be sympathetic to the opposition party “Progressive Slovakia,” according to the APA agency.

However, this claim has been vehemently denied by the leader of this liberal party. “We unequivocally deny that he is a member of our movement. There is no other connection between him and our party or our members. We strongly condemn his heinous act,” explained Michal Simecka, quoted by the Slovak newspaper Hospodarske Noviny.

“He has written three collections of poetry and a novel in 2010. Since 2015, he has been a member of the Slovak Writers’ Association,” reports Pravda.

Co-founder of the literary club “Dúha” (rainbow in Slovak), politically left-leaning according to the Denník N newspaper, he reportedly worked in the past as a security guard.

In 2016, in this capacity, he himself was violently assaulted by a drug-addicted young man, attracting media attention at the time, as noted by Markíza TV.

That same year, he initiated the creation of the political movement “Hnutie proti nasiliu” (Movement Against Violence) in Slovakia. Paradoxically named “Movement Against Violence” in Slovak.

He then launched a petition to gather signatures and financial support for the official registration of his party. “Violence is often a reaction of people, a form of expression of simple discontent with the situation.

Let us be dissatisfied, but not violent!” he wrote at the time, as recalled by the newspaper. In Europe, “militarization, extremism, neo-Nazism, and anarchy are omnipresent,” he denounced.

“What is the party that bears the name ‘social’ doing?”

He regularly wrote left-wing political columns on his blog, Pravda recalls, citing this example: “After all, it is not possible that 4% of rich deviants manipulate the entire mass and allow it without doing anything. This fraction, the percentage, should not determine the pathogenic value system of the entire mass. It is immoral and abnormal! It is said that honest people do not engage in politics.”

He frequently targeted Robert Fico’s government in his publications. “What does the State, the party that bears the name ‘social’, do about this? Nothing! The State does not solve begging through law,” he wrote.

The suspect here refers to the “SMER – Social Democracy” party led by Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Originally social democratic when it was founded in 1999, this political party evolved towards the right of the Slovak political spectrum, ultimately becoming a party of national right, marked by its conservative and Russophile positions, and regularly accused of being “populist.”

Before returning to power in 2023, Robert Fico had already served twice as prime minister, from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018.

Legally Owned Firearm

Asked by the Slovak media Aktuality, Juraj Chintula’s son quickly responded to the attack on the prime minister. “I have absolutely no idea about my father’s intentions, what he planned, or why this happened,” he stated.

When journalists asked if there was a “hateful” relationship between him and Robert Fico, he replied: “I’ll tell you, he didn’t vote for him.

That’s all I can say.” “Yes, he legally owned a firearm because he worked as a retired driver (…) I don’t want to judge him. He never expressed himself like this, sometimes he can comment on which government he doesn’t like, but this is a shock,” testified the suspect’s son.

Juraj Chintula, with pro-Russian SB members, January 2016.

Chintula has also been associated with the pro-Russian paramilitary group Slovenskí Branci (SB).

According to Euronews, SB has been accused of attempting to recruit young men across Slovakia for its paramilitary organisation.

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