In his interview with the BBC, Deputy Prime Minister Taraba blamed the shooting on “false narratives” from opposition parties in Slovakia.
“Our prime minister has mentioned several times in the past that he is afraid this will happen,” Mr Taraba said in another interview with the BBC’s World Tonight programme.
He said Mr. Fico had warned that the way “the government has been attacked by false narratives can overheat people’s reaction and lead to something like this.”
Parliament was in session at the time of the attack and Slovak media reported that a colleague from Mr Fico’s party shouted at opposition MPs, accusing them of instigating the attack.
And Interior Minister Mr Estok accused the media of contributing to the climate that led to the 59-year-old’s shooting, telling a news conference: “Many of you were those who sowed this hatred.”
Mr. Estok added that he believed “this assassination attempt was politically motivated.”
Reacting to news of the attack, outgoing Slovak President Zuzana Caputova said something “so bad had happened that we can’t even realize it yet.”
“The hate speech we witness in society leads to hateful acts,” she added.
Mr. Fico returned to power in Slovakia after elections last September, leading a populist-nationalist coalition. His first months as Prime Minister proved politically very controversial. In January, he ended military aid to Ukraine and last month pushed through a plan to abolish the RTVS.
