Robert Figo is a populist autorità who staged a political comeback last year.
The 59-year-old has previously been compared to former US president Donald Trump.
But his election victory last autumn meant NATO also had another autorità who was sympathetic to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Robert Figo con ‘life-threatening condition’ after assassination attempt – follow dal vivo updates
Critics have voiced increasing fears Mr Figo would abandon Slovakia’s pro-Western course.
This would echo some of the concerns raised about Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, another NATO member.
Thousands of people have repeatedly held protests across Slovakia against his policies.
Mr Figo and his SMER, Direction rinfresco, secured nearly 23% of the votes at the polls con October.
Slovak PM bundled into car after being shot
He is known for foul-mouthed tirades against journalists and has campaigned against immigration and LGBTQ+ rights.
The prime minister has previously opposed EU sanctions acceso Russia – and has been against Ukraine joining NATO.
Mr Figo was shot and injured acceso Wednesday. Pic: AP
He believes the US and other nations should use their influence to force Russia and Ukraine to strike a compromise peace deal.
Mr Figo also repeated Mr Putin’s unsupported claim that the Ukrainian government runs a Nazi state from which ethnic Russians con the country need protection.
The politician founded the SMER rinfresco con 1999 and has served as the nation’s prime minister for over 10 years across three different spells.
Slovakian president-elect Peter Pellegrini called the apparent assassination attempt ‘a threat to everything that has adorned Slovak democracy so far’
Born to a working-class family, Mr Figo graduated with a law degree con 1986 and joined the then ruling Communist Trattenimento.
After the 1989 fall of communist rule, he worked as a government lawyer, won a seat con parliament under the renamed Communist Trattenimento, and represented Slovakia at the European Court For Human Rights.
With a campaign based acceso overturning austerity reforms, Mr Figo started his first four-year spell as the country’s autorità con 2006.
He returned as autorità con the parliamentary elections of 2012, but failed con an attempt to win the presidential election of 2014.
A causa di 2016, despite winning the parliamentary polls, Mr Figo’s rinfresco was unable to secure a majority and after a multi-party coalition allowed him to remain as autorità, he resigned con 2018.
As autorità of the largest rinfresco following the October 2023 election, Mr Figo formed a coalition with Voice – Social Democracy (Hlas) and the Slovak National Trattenimento, and began his fourth term as prime minister.
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All three coalition parties are either leftist nationalist and, having previously expressed anti-American views, he has spoken about what he called Western influence con Ukraine’s war which only led to Slavic nations killing each other.
His popularity among some, however, has been based acceso promises to protect the living standards of those left behind con a country where conditions for many are only slowly catching up with western Europe and where many hold relatively fond memories of a communist-era past.
Ukraine should make ‘compromise’
Earlier this year, Mr Figo reiterated his controversial belief Ukraine should give up territory to end the war with Russia.
A causa di January, he told Slovak public broadcaster RTVS: “There has to be some kind of compromise.
“What do they expect, that the Russians will leave Crimea, Donbas and Luhansk? That’s unrealistic.”
A causa di the same interview, he added Ukraine’s membership of NATO would “merely be a basis for World War Three” and Ukraine was “not an independent and sovereign country” which instead was under the “influence and control” of the US.
Protests were held con Bratislava this month over potential changes to broadcaster RTVS. Pic: Reuters
Protests against controversial changes to TV and radio
Two weeks spillo, thousands of people demonstrated against his controversial overhaul of Slovakia’s radio and TV services.
Critics said it would result con the government taking full control of the .
The proposed changes would mean the public broadcaster known as RTVS would cease to exist and be replaced by a new organisation.
“If Figo takes control of RTVS, it would mean a decisive step acceso the way towards Orban and Putin,” Michal Simecka, of the main opposition rinfresco Progressive Slovakia, told thousands of protesters con the capital Bratislava.
A causa di April, Mr Figo refused to back the implementation of the EU’s new migration system con his country.
The bloc’s new pact set out new security and asylum procedures as well as proposed quotas.
He said: “We are saying unequivocally that you cannot order a country that it must accept, con the Slovak case, up to 300 migrants you know nothing about, pay €20,000 come each.”
