As Slovakian PM Robert Fico fights for his life after being shot by a pensioner poet and his country stands on the brink of civil war, SAM GREENHILL finds out if the seeds of bitterness that were sown 35 years ago in the streets of Prague played a key role
When gun-toting pensioner Juraj Cintula allegedly tried to assassinate the Slovakian prime minister on Wednesday, the world held its breath.
The first serious attempt on a European leader's life in two decades drew comparisons with the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which plunged Europe into the First World War.
In fact, the origins of the attack on pro-Putin PM Robert Fico – who 'escaped death by just a hair' – may be traced back to a more recent, yet no less seismic, moment in history.
For while many questions have been asked about the 'political' motives that prompted Cintula, a 'polite, calm' 71-year-old poet, to pull out his 9mm pistol, shocked friends believe it all goes back to 11 momentous days some 35 years ago.
That was the Velvet Revolution of November 1989. For four decades, Czechoslovakians had endured the miserable yoke of Soviet-style Communism. But it all came crashing down in less than a fortnight – without a single life being lost – thanks to brave pro-democracy revolutionaries such as Cintula.
The Velvet Revolution of November 1989 heralded the end of four decades of Czechoslovakians enduring the miserable yoke of Soviet-style Communism
Many questions have been asked about the 'political' motives that prompted Juraj Cintula (pictured), a 'polite, calm' 71-year-old poet, to pull out his 9mm pistol, shocked friends believe it all goes back to 11 momentous days some 35 years ago
Pictured: The first minutes after the attack on Robert Fico as the prime minister's security guards evacuated him to his motorcade
Slovakia's PM Robert Fico (pictured) is fighting for his life in hospital following an assassination attempt on Wednesday
With cruel irony, his alleged actions now risk Slovakia descending into civil war, potentially triggering a devastating domino effect that could serve as a prelude to a catastrophic clash between Russia and Europe.
Back then, Cintula was a 35-year-old coal miner brimming with the fervour, determination and optimism of an oppressed generation who had suffered enough under authoritarian rule.
Such was his dedication to the cause, he even had his own file with the notorious secret police, the StB, and a codename: Duro.
Come the Velvet Revolution, Duro was among the rebels gripped with righteousness who seized back control of the country, inspired by Czechoslovakian dissidents Alexander Dubcek and Vaclav Havel.
Could it be that those pivotal days between November 17 and 28, 1989 – which filled Cintula with such bright hope for the future – laid the foundations for the shocking act of violence on Wednesday? Cintula's stunned acquaintances suspect so.
The prime minister had been attending a government meeting in Handlova, a former coal mining town, when he went to greet supporters waiting behind a barrier, possibly encouraged by Cintula beckoning: 'Robert, come here.'
As Mr Fico approached the grey-haired, bearded pensioner, Cintula drew his Czech pistol and fired five times at point-blank range, hitting him in the stomach and arm.
Juraj Cintula, 71, is a writer and founder member of a literary club. His son was quoted as telling local media: 'I have no idea what father intended, what he planned, why it happened. Maybe there was some short circuit'
Graphic depicting the events following the shooting of Slovakian PM Robert Fico
Security scrambled to tackle the shooter, 71-year-old Juraj Cintula from Levice, to the ground
The gunman is allegedly 71-year-old Juraj Cintula who was arrested at the scene
The prime minister was airlifted to a nearby hospital after suffering gunshot wounds to the arm and stomach
Robert Fico (pictured centre) being carried away by security officials into a car after he was shot in Handlova, north-east of Bratislava, following a Slovak government meeting
The alleged assailant was detained by cops at the scene
Bodyguards pounced on the would-be assassin as Mr Fico was bundled into a government limousine before being airlifted to hospital for life-saving surgery. Last night he remained in a critical but stable condition.
Asked why he had done it, being filmed in a police station and sporting a bruise on his forehead, Cintula stated quietly: 'I do not agree with the policies of the government.' It was quite the understatement.
But as the father-of-two's family and friends tried to make sense of the sudden notoriety of the man who once founded an 'anti-violence' movement, acquaintances said his alleged actions made some sense.
Mr Fico is a polarising figure at home and in the EU thanks to his calls to axe military aid to neighbouring Ukraine and to stop sanctions on Russia. He declared 'we will not send a single round' of ammunition to help Ukraine – music to the Kremlin's ears. No wonder Vladimir Putin is credited with helping Mr Fico return to power in last September's elections, to the apparent fury of Cintula.
It is the ruling Smer party founder's fourth term in office, having previously won elections in 2006, 2012 and 2016 on a platform of Right-wing views on immigration, Press freedom and LGBT rights.
He had to resign in 2018 amid mass protests over the murder of a journalist, Jan Kuciak, who exposed tax fraud and corruption. Critics accuse him of undermining the rule of law and media freedoms.
Newly elected President of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini, said the PM was millimetres from death
Police work at the scene after a shooting incident in which Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was wounded by five gun shots
Russian president Vladimir Putin – who is currently in Beijing to strengthen ties with China – spoke highly of Fico who was elected off the back of an anti-EU campaign and has since pledged to end his nation's delivery of military aid to Kyiv
These issues were on Cintula's mind, according to long-time revolutionary comrade Jan Baska, 63.
Speaking to the Mail at the bar he runs near Cintula's apartment, Mr Baska said: 'I know him well. I understand his motive, though I do not for a moment condone what he has done. It was a total shock. But he was definitely furious about the murder of the journalist.'
His bar is 100 yards from the seventh-floor Khrushchev-era apartment in the sleepy town of Levice, where Cintula has lived for 40 years with his retired language teacher wife Elena.
They have two grown-up children, Aneta and Martin, who has a photographic studio business in nearby Nitra. It is basic accommodation, with crumbling concrete, flapping net curtains and a neighbour proudly displaying a Russian flag.
Last night, pulling a pint in his bar as transfixed locals watched the news, Mr Baska told how he first met Cintula in the 1980s. They were attending meetings of VPN, or Public Against Violence, the Slovak counterpart of the political movement Czech Civic Forum.
Mr Baska said: 'Juraj is calm, easy-going, and he believed in one thing above all else: democracy. I have known him more than 30 years... He believed we could change our country for the better. We fought for it. But although we won our country back, he has been constantly disappointed by how it has turned out.
'I do not support his act, no one forced him to do this. But when Fico came to power for a fourth time, I think it was just accumulated frustrations. I can understand what he was thinking because of his growing frustration of what was – or rather was not –happening since 1989.'
Slovak Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok spoke during a press conference at F.D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is being treated
An individual from within the crowd could be seen lunging forward, with a gun in hand as he began shooting in the direction of the PM who is out of the camera frame
The PM was shot in Handlova, north-east of Bratislava, in the central European country
A general view of the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital where Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was undergoing an operation
Throughout his life Cintula repeatedly joined movements for genuine democracy in opposition to the corruption of successive governments. He harboured a growing disillusionment with the nefarious interference of Moscow in Slovakian politics and the self-satisfied uselessness of the EU and Nato that has left this small but strategically vital country deeply divided.
After working in the coal mine in Handlova he was a teacher, then he had a stonemason's workshop and later his own gym. He latterly worked as a supermarket security guard, which is when he was legally granted the right to a gun.
In 2016, he founded the Movement Against Violence, writing online: 'Violence is often a reaction of people, as a form of expression of ordinary discontent at the state of things. Let us be dissatisfied, but not violent.'
From 2005 to 2019, Cintula was a self-proclaimed poet and member of a group at his library called the Duha Literary Club. With their help he published volumes of poems – some of them quite dark.
Yesterday at the library, fellow author Anna Medzihradska showed the Mail his collection. She also stressed her profound distress and said Cintula had been sacked from the club.
His tomes point to a tortured soul: 'In my dreams, I dreamed of riots... I don't cry over life any more, I don't cry over guilt any more, I no longer cry over shackles. I will weep over the dead.'
Local journalist Stefan Rachela noted: 'I think he harboured an over-the-top antipathy towards Robert Fico... sooner or later he would commit something.'
But his friends and family are in disbelief. After his arrest, his son Martin said: 'I have no idea what father intended, what he planned, why it happened. Maybe there was some short-circuit.'
Neighbour and friend Mile L'udovit said: 'He was a polite, helpful and calm guy... He never talked about using violence.'
As Cintula's friends try to come to terms with his actions, world leaders are focusing on the recovery of the prime minster. Yesterday Peter Bardy, editor-in-chief of Slovakian news site Aktuality, said: 'We are at a crossroads. Slovakia needs to calm the situation, not escalate it further.'
