Polish ambassador: emotions in Slovak politics have been running high for years

"As far as I know, this man is in detention, I don't have information where. A short video allegedly recorded after his arrest has appeared on social media. It's quite mysterious how it's been leaked to the media," Ambassador Ruczaj said.

"He is said to have been preparing the attack for a month and that he opposes the current government's policy, but I suspect, however, that we might learn a bit more after the government meeting," he added.

The suspect in an assassination attempt on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico acted alone and had taken part in anti-government protests, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj-Estok told a news conference on Thursday.

"This is a lone wolf who had radicalised himself in the latest period after the presidential election," the minister said.

Ruczaj also commented on Sutaj-Estok's Wednesday's call for calm and not exploiting this tragedy for political gains. "Let's hope that in this very critical moment, that Slovakia's political scene will take this very message to heart."

The Polish ambassador stressed that "a very high level of emotions has characterized political life in Slovakia for years". He added that "utter brutality" in the political sphere was one of the reasons why Slovak President Zuzana Caputova decided not to run for a second term in office.

"Robert Fico's new government has strongly accentuated the aspect of holding the previous administration to account, introducing a general overhaul of the state, a purge of sorts. Naturally, this has sparked a very powerful response from opposition circles," Ruczaj said.

"Slovakia has already experienced murders which had a political context or led to political gains," he added, referring to the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova in 2018.

"It has led to the collapse of a previous cabinet of Robert Fico."

The ambassador also mentioned the 2022 Bratislava shooting. "As far as I know, the assassin wanted to kill the then prime minister Eduard Heger, and since he failed to do it, he carried out the attack in front of the Teplaren club," he added.

Ruczaj argued that the man who had shot Fico could have had a similar tendency to political radicalization. "In the past, he would declare access to and support for a Russian paramilitary group, only to protest once again against the actions of the current government," he said.

"He is a person of a rather complicated personality."