Shooting Of Slovak Leader Heightens War Risk
Date
5/15/2024 3:48:48 PM
(MENAFN- Asia Times) Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Europe's toughest opponent of military backing for Ukraine, was shot multiple times May 15 by an as yet unidentified assailant. He was transported by helicopter to a trauma center at Banska Bystrica, where he is fighting for his life.
His condition is not known.
Few
details have been published about the would-be assassin, who was captured after the incident.
Reportedly a 71-year-old man used a legally-owned weapon.
The shooting took place at a private government off-site meeting in Handlova, and it is not known how the gunman
learned of and
gained access to the
closed
event.
It is the first shooting of a European head of government since the assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme in 1986.
Latest stories
Can't blame all Chinese cyberattacks on the government ![No, Japan's actually not a xenophobic country]()
No, Japan's actually not a xenophobic country
US bases woefully exposed to Chinese missile attacks After two previous terms as prime minister Fico returned to office in 2023, in a coalition among his Direction-Social Democracy party and two other parties. He opposed shipping Western arms to Ukraine through Slovak
territory and
has opposed the provision of Western weapons to Ukraine. Instead, Fico said in a September 2023 interview,
“Why don't we force the warring parties, use the weight of the EU and the US to make them sit down and find some sort of compromise that would guarantee security for Ukraine?”
The Czech Republic may follow Slovakia's opposition to the Ukraine war after next year's parliamentary election. Andrej Babis' ANO party
has a decisive lead in voter polls.
Along with Hungary, Slovakia stands to form a block with Czechia and Serbia in opposition to US and European Commission support for Ukraine.
The shooting recalls the July 31, 1914,
assassination
of
French Socialist leader Jean Jaurès, his country's leading opponent of war after the murder of Austria's Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo the previous month.
He was shot at a Paris café
by an alleged lone gunman.
So
far,
we have only questions about the shooting of Fico and no answers. But the strategic background to
Ukraine's military position is dire, the country's military itself reports, as undermanned and exhausted Ukrainian units succumb to the relentless pounding of Russian air attacks and artillery.
It isn't clear what Russia has in mind as it pursues a reconnaissance in force around Kharkov, but the salient facts are not in dispute. NATO countries do not have enough shells and air defense missiles, and Ukraine does not have sufficient manpower, to push back Russia's crawling offensive.
The Biden Administration won't sit on its hands while the most important military conflict since Vietnam goes pear-shaped. In some ways Ukraine is more important than Vietnam although no American body bags are coming home.
Two years ago, the West believed that its advanced weaponry would defeat the Russian army and that sanctions would crush the Russian economy. Instead, the Westfaces a Russia supplied by China via a dozen other countries, a revitalized Russian military that has displayed ingenuity in adapting to the battlefield and, worst of all, the humiliation of a shriveled defense industrial base that cannot produce enough weapons to match Russian output.
Sign up for one of our free newsletters The Daily ReportStart your day right with Asia Times' top stories AT Weekly ReportA weekly roundup of Asia Times' most-read stories
The Biden Administration will look to the November elections, fearing the effect of a Ukrainian defeat at the polls, but its determination to prevent a Russian victory has deeper motivations: At stake is the credibility of American leadership in Europe and around the world.
The US and its allies have many options, none of them salubrious. One is to help Ukraine attack major targets inside Russia, a frequent theme of American hawks. Another is to deploy Western troops in Ukraine directly or, as some have proposed, through a mercenary force of trained Western pilots flying Western aircraft against the Russians.
The Biden Administration has declined to take such steps, for the obvious reason that they might lead to a wider war. That was before Russia appeared close to victory.
The attempted assassination of a determined,
credible
and duly elected East European leader might prove
to be
the writing on the wall.
Already have an account?Sign in Sign up here to comment on Asia Times stories OR Thank you for registering!
An account was already registered with this email. Please check your inbox for an authentication link.
MENAFN15052024000159011032ID1108218480
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.