Latest news with #JanLopatka
Hindustan Times
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Trial set to open in Slovakia of man who shot and wounded PM Fico
By Jan Lopatka Trial set to open in Slovakia of man who shot and wounded PM Fico BANSKA BYSTRICA, Slovakia, - A Slovak court will begin the trial on Tuesday of a man who shot and seriously wounded Prime Minister Robert Fico in May last year, an attack that both exposed and exacerbated political and social divisions in the small central European country. The 72-year-old Juraj C. stands accused of terrorism for an attack that prosecutors say was aimed at incapacitating the government. He faces up to life imprisonment if found guilty by the Specialised Criminal Court. The attacker, a former mine worker, stonemason, security guard, but also the author of poetry and prose and a public activist, has told investigators he shot at Fico to hurt but not kill him, due to what he said were disagreements with the prime minister's policies on Ukraine, media and culture. Fico, a 60-year-old fourth-time prime minister, has clashed with Slovakia's partners in the European Union and NATO over his opposition to providing military aid to Ukraine and his efforts to maintain working relations with Russia. He has also pushed through criminal law and media reforms which critics say undermine democracy, and - echoing Prime Minister Victor Orban of neighbouring Hungary - has pledged to build a "dam against liberalism" through constitutional reforms. Fico has accused the attacker of being an opposition activist and has accused the opposition - an array of mostly liberal-pro EU parties - of stoking hatred. The main opposition parties denied any connection to the shooter. Fico's tilt towards Russia triggered large public protests earlier this year, which he said were aimed at triggering a coup against the government, an assertion denied by protest organisers. Fico has said he has forgiven the attacker and does not intend to attend the trial unless called to testify. The court has set hearings for Tuesday and Wednesday but further hearings are possible later this year before a verdict is reached. The first day is expected to include a reading of the charges and questioning of the suspect. The suspect fired five shots from a handgun from 1.2 metres as the prime minister greeted citizens in the central Slovak town of Hand. Fico was hit four times, including in the abdomen, and underwent urgent surgery and treatment at the Banska Bystrica hospital. His full diagnosis has not been revealed. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Radio Free Europe still hopes for Congress funds after U.S. financing halt
By Jan Lopatka and Jason Hovet PRAGUE (Reuters) -U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is seeking to build bi-partisan support in Congress to keep operating when approved financing ends later this year, its president Stephen Capus said. Started in 1950 to broadcast to communist-run countries during the Cold War, RFE/RL still reaches millions in eastern Europe, including Russia and Ukraine, as well as central Asia and the Middle East. However, it is caught in efforts to down-size government under U.S. President Donald Trump. The administration froze Congress-approved federal grants in March, leaving RFE/RL to fight in court for appropriated funds. RFE/RL received funds for May on Thursday after a court order, Capus said, and continues to seek over $50 million appropriated by Congress for its fiscal year ending September while seeking ways to fund operations ahead. "After September 30th, there is still a possibility of receiving funds from Congress," he told Reuters during the Globsec Forum in Prague on Thursday. "We've got very strong bipartisan support... We have confidence that can happen." The funding rows have forced the station to furlough about 350 staff, out of around 1,200, Capus said, and it has reduced some programming. It also let go "hundreds and hundreds" of freelancers and contractors, and some senior staff have left. The Czech Republic has searched for solutions with European Union partners and others to help RFE/RL. Last month, the EU said it would donate 5.5 million euros ($6.33 million). The station has so far not accepted outside funds and wants to see where talks and U.S. court decisions lead. Capus said some form of funding from U.S. and European sources might be an option, given Europe's rising focus on security, including in the information space. Nothing was on the table now, he said, but "it's an idea worth exploring." ($1 = 0.8692 euros)
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Slovak PM seeks control of 'national identity' issues in potential clash with EU law
By Jan Lopatka (Reuters) -Slovak leader Robert Fico is seeking to change the country's constitution and install what he calls "a dam against progressivism" by declaring that Slovakia has legal precedence on "national identity" issues, such as family and gender. Critics of populist Prime Minister Fico, including some legal experts, fear the amendment will threaten Slovakia's commitments to European Union laws and international treaties. Fico has taken an increasingly anti-liberal stance in rights issues, building on his pro-Russian and pro-Hungarian international policy position. He has promoted closer relations with Russia and China and criticised sanctions on Moscow and the EU's military aid for Ukraine. The amendment states that only male and female will be recognised as genders, and that school curriculums must respect the constitution, including its cultural and ethical positions. It will also tighten adoption rules. "The Slovak Republic maintains sovereignty above all in issues of national identity," the amendments say, in particular on cultural and ethical issues. A report accompanying the bill states it is fully in line with EU law, including the issues of precedence of European law. Some opposition lawmakers however, as well as a group of lawyers including five former judges of the constitutional court, warn it could have far-reaching consequences. "The proposed amendment is contradictory to the commitments resulting from European Union law and international law and creates a legal basis to diverge from values of the European Union and the Council of Europe," the group said. "The amendment would weaken or even preclude enforcement of international law and European Union law in Slovakia," it said, adding that it included vague language, creating legal uncertainty and room for extensive interpretation. Fico's fractious leftist and nationalist coalition has a thin majority dependent on independents, but the amendment has won backing from the opposition conservative Christian Democrats as well as two members of the opposition Slovensko party. This may be enough for the amendment to reach the required 90 votes in the 150-seat parliament when it comes before lawmakers in the next days. "This is not a defence of identity or sovereignty, this is a conscious and deceitful act aimed at severing Slovakia from the system and structure of international protection of human rights," Amnesty International said in a statement. "The proposal threatens all people in Slovakia, but above all the most vulnerable - children, women, the poor, who are exposed to discrimination or inequality based on age or gender identity." Fico's government has accused liberal protesters of planning a coup, changed laws to tighten rules for non-governmental organisations, increased control over public broadcasters, and attacked independent media as foreign agents.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Slovakia tightens rules for non-profits in move they see as inspired by Russia
By Jan Lopatka (Reuters) - The Slovak parliament approved a law on Wednesday tightening reporting and other requirements for non-governmental organisations, changes those organisations called "Russian law" in which the government was settling scores with critics from the civil sector. The law orders non-governmental organisations to detail their donors and publish wide lists of officials, and introduces fines for administrative errors. The government, led by pro-Russian Prime Minister Robert Fico, has long accused non-governmental organisations of supporting the liberal opposition and foreign interests, taking aim at those getting funding from a foundation set up by U.S. philanthropist George Soros. In the sharply polarised Slovak society, Fico blamed civic organisations for planning to escalate peaceful public protests against his government's policies, a charge they denied. "Non-governmental organisations are a grey zone, they do politics, draw money from around the world and no one knows what they do with it," ruling party SMER-SSD Richard Glück told a news conference on Monday. Fico's party had originally planned more far-reaching changes, including labelling non-government organisations as "organisations with foreign support" like those in Russia or Georgia, provoking a warning from the European Commission. Other changes, including labelling non-profits meeting officials as lobbyists and allowing the interior ministry to dissolve them for administrative errors, were blocked on Wednesday by Fico's allies in parliament. Non-governmental organisations have said the law was meant to intimidate, could breach constitutional rights and went against rulings by Europe's Court of Justice. "We call it a Russian law not because it is a copy of the Russian one but it was inspired by Russia and in variety with the constitution and EU law," said Katarina Batkova, director of Via Iuris, an organisation dealing with human rights. "The proposed measures have clear aim: stigmatisation and limiting activities of civil organisations," she told Reuters by telephone. The country's public rights defender Robert Dobrovodsky and Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty have written to parliamentarians to reconsider the law.
