wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... woman: two retiring executives turn their focus to greyhounds, giving these former race dogs a real chance to win.

a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose, and the way you give back. life well planned. man: cunard is a proud supporter of public television. on a voyage with cunard, the world awaits. a world of flavor. diverse destinations. and immersive experiences. a world of leisure... and british style. all with cunard's "white-star" service. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news"

christian: hello, i'm christian fraser and this is "the context." >> i am shocked. we are all shocked by this terrible and vicious attack on prime minister robert fico. the physical attack on him is first of all an attack on a person but it is also an attack on democracy. >> this is a country very much in shock today. one person i spoke to said this sort of thing simply doesn't happen here. >> i would like to thank all those emergency services and the doctors of the hospital who at this moment are still fighting for the life of the prime minister. ♪ christian: slovakia's prime minister remains in a life threatening condition tonight

after being shot five times. robert fico was bundled in a car and airlifted to a hospital nearby. the attacker, reportedly a 71-year-old man has been detained. the motive is said to be political. we'll get reaction and discuss what it means three weeks in europeanelection. a very good evening. in the last hour, doctors treating the slovakian prime minister robert fico said he is still undergoing surgery and is in a critical condition. >> slovakia has always been known as a country of people who are tolerant, people who are accepting of other opinions and people who were always able to disdiscuss. what happened today is a stigma

which will haunt us for many years to come. but that is something that none of us think about at the moment. all we are focusing on is the condition of the prime minister, robert fico. and we hope that he is strong enough to deal with this trauma. in the first place, i would like to assure the public that we will make everything that in our power to investigate this heinous crime. we are doing this at the moment as we speak. the initial information that we have clearly points to a political motivation and to a decisi of the perpetrator shortly after the presidential

election and i would like to appeal to you, the journalists and the public and all the politicians, to stop spreading hate. i would like to appeal to all citizens who, after this unprecedented act, heinous act, still harbor in hate, to stop it. christian: the prime minister was shot five times during the attack. [gunshots] christian: mr. fico was attending a government meeting in the town of handlova and came out to meet well-wishers afterwards. the shots were seemingly fired from within the crowd. eyewitness said they saw the

prime minister fall before he was bundled into the car by security. the suspect, believed to be a 17-year-old man was quickly knocked to the ground and arrested. the interior minister said the attack was politically motivated. we have in report. >> just moments after being shot, prime minister fico is dragged out of a flower bed and bundledded into a car by his security team. eyewitnesses report hearing three or four bullets being fired. a few meters away amid the panic, police wrestle a suspect to the ground. >> i heard three shots. it was quick, one by one like if you throw firecrackers on the ground. i saw a scratch on the prime minister's head and then he fell next to the barrier. it's a nightmare. >> the 59-year-old was flown by helicopter to hospital. with officials saying his condition is life threatening.

a few hours later, the country's president addressed the nation. >> i am shocked. we are all shocked by the prime minister robert fico. on a physical attack on the prime minister is first of all an attack on a person but it is also on attack on democracy. hateful rhetoric, which we can see in society, lead to hateful actions. please, stop it. >> prime minister fico, seen here earlier in the day, is a decisive figure. a populist politician, he's been accused of authoritarianism and being too close to russia. but in slovakia's parliament this afternoon, there there was condemnation of attack from across the political spectrum. >> the attack on the prime minister is terrible, uncivillized and brutal.

pure evil. this should pro provoke just one reaction. unite all society against evil, hate, and violence. >> the alleged attacker is now in police could where detectives will be trying to findout his motive and whether he acted alone. christian: robert fico has served three times as slovak iowa's -- slovakia's prime minister. he was previous ousted in 2013 over a death of an associate. buff he staged an unlikely come back, expressing frustration over the rising cost of living in slovakia as well as wang support for the war in ukraine. with me inspect studio is

journalist and former cnn aingeor nino desantos and the bbc correspondent lees. i suppose we could say that it's a relatively young country, slovakia but in recent years it has certainly taken a veer to the right in politics. >> even robert fico himself, whose populist party began on the left and over past three decades has veered to the right. his election last year which was met by protections bimore liberal, pro e.u. groups with him in a euro skeptic coalition and month after month have seen the kind of policies that he campaigned on, saying there would be no military aid to ukraine, although he relented by allowing private military firms

to provide some military support. calling for sanctions against russia. and this clear assassination attempt came amidst his new broadcast law, which would mean turning the slovak broadcast company into a more pliability corporation to support the state. but no matter what the politics, those in slovakia and in europe, ju weeks before the election, that has sent collective shockwaves. just to see this happening, it's a reminder if one was needed about not how just deeply polarized but dangerously polarized. the political scene is. not just in slovakia but across the media and that was the

emphasis of the press conference. >> you can look back in many different directions for fico. >> he's been on the scene since the late 1990's but he entered politics pre-1989. on the leavitt sides of the spectrum he was originally a communist but he's nimble popularizing on the populist held winds particularly in this part of europe after countries like his joined the effort u. he first bame prime minister in 2006, a couple of years after slovakia and other countries seceded to the e.u. taking the benefits of the effort u. membership, a ditto with the rhythm with the united states. you've seen in come into play over the last couple of yes or so.

he started saying that he's a skeptic on ukraine. he doesn't want the-- e.u. to support ukraine the way it does. he actually wants the kyiv to capitulate to knows cow so the war will end. all of this has cliveed s slovakian society from one side to the next. christian: is he a political chameleon in one sense? or has he been dragged that way out of necessity because he's had to go into coalition with the ultra nationalists? >> i think he was always very, very able to read the room and capitalize on the political changes of the day and he, for instance, take the 2008 --

eurozone prices. he was trying to use his leverage to say, germany and france, we want to see you at the table. the group of the countries of poland, hungary, czechia as well. he was a big voice around the takable there advocating for a slightly more sovereign policy for them to have their own autonomy but also to benefit from e.u. membership. and even know he takes a big game against the effort u. and nato, he still decided to take the euro in twine, even at a time when the single currency was in crisis in some countrs bailed out. christian: i was looking tonight at some of the reaction and obviously the interior minister is saying it is political and they're calling for people to be calm and not to seek out retribution. once the shock has dissipated,

is there a risk that slovak yanke society becomes more divided? >> you see now on the internet, this public square. first of all, right across europe saying that this is an attack against democracy. everyone right across the political spectrum in slovakia condemning this attack but so quickly we see the sniping. it was on full view in this perez conference. they told the journalists in front, look at yourselves in the mirror, the kind of rhetoric you have been putting on social media. it's not the right time to really be discussing in but that also created this no-holds barred vicious kind of political atmosphere and christian, when we got the breaking news, when i went went on social media and thought what is the motive?

there were a whole slew of posts on social media saying it was because he refused to sell the global pandemic. his criticism of the vaccine. so those old conspiracies are threading through. so danger in the assassination but danger in the reaction to the assassination. as we've said time and again, in disasters, in crisesike this, it's not the cress, it's how you respond to it. the alarm lights are blinking. christian: yes, a lot of information on social media about this 71-year-old man who is said to be the attacker. we're trying to verify that and bring you reaction when we have. vladimir putin sent a telegram to the outgoing slovakian president and described it as a

horrific crime. please convey to the prime minister words of the most sincere support as well as wishes for a sedy and complete recovery. not the sort of message that you hear the russian lead every often sending to european leaders. tells you how close the alliance is let's speak to the head of the center for democracy and resilience. thank you for being with us. what are you learning tonight about the possible motive for this crime? >> yes, thanks a lot for having me. so, so far we don't have too many details confirmed. there are certain theories, including the one stated by the ministry of interior, that the motive was political. but we do not have any kind of

confirmation, either directly from the attacker. one tv station has reportedly found a video of him, of the attacker criticizing the government around a month ago but this, again, haven't been -- hasn't been confirmed yet. christian: a security conference is held annually and i presume you talk about the way politics is changing in that part of europe. were there threats on him before? any sort of attack on him before or forewarning of what was to come? >> not at all. the society has already mentioned, it's very, very polarized. this is definitely true but we haven't seen any hatd or strong verbal attacks against the prime minister, either in the online space or in the real

world, but the truth is that the public space and the public debate is -- has been very much full of hatred, especially in the online space. christian: talk to me about the weeks just preceding this. was there a reason? was there a tipping points, do you think, for this assail ant? might there have been something in the politics in recent weeks that pushed him over the edge? >> from hark -- i mean, the minister of interior has mentioned that the decision was made around the elections. the presidential election. we've just had presidential louisiana techs in april and we also had parliamentary elections in september so there was a lot of campaigning happening in th past, let's say even a year in slovakia and usually the campaigns are full of strong

campaign rhetoric, which is often also full of misinformation or demonization of certain actors or individuals. buit is true that since the government has taken over the power, there have been attempts and legislation proposed to crack down on the public broadcasters and there have been increasing attacks on the standard mainstream media and also civil society organizations. christian: in terms of security now, the interior m ministry sad tonight that all politicians would have their security increased. do you sense a certain anxiety among the political family there? >> i would say there is and in

general across society because this is definitely something we haven't experienced. no one expects such a horrific act in a knock atized, civilized society and i do know that any activities of the parliament have been stalled for the moment and the security has been increased but at the same time there is a suspicion that this was a loan man act so that hasn't been perpetrated by a group of actors. christian: we'll have to leave you there. thank you very much for joining us this evening. around the world and across the u.k., you are watching "bbc news." for our u.k. viewers still with us, let's look at some of the stories hered today. doctors in engine gland have entered in talks toe try to end the long argument over pay

>> doctors have entered into a new discussion. people across south devon have been advised to boil their tap water after 2 cases of a diarrhea type illness have shown up. it was predominantly a water borne disease. the rwanda deportation scheme is being advanced to discover any aabsolutely seekers. -- asylum seekers. failed asylum seekers are also eligible for a voluntary scheme announced last month. we'll continue to follow the news from slovakia tonight. robert fico still in serious

condition in hospital. let me take you back through his political career which might shed hope on how he first came to prominence. he grew up in what back then was czechoslovakia. he studied law, joining the communist party in 1986. he continued his career in the participant of the detroit of democratic left. the czech republic peacefully separated from slovakia in 1992. he founded the participant known as smer. he became prime minister, lead rag cocoa litigation of left-leaning parties, staying in power until 2009. his second term ended in he controversy with an investigation into the links between his political allies and the italian and a halfa but --

mafia but he was elected into a third term last year. so for a central european leader whose political infancy was rooted in the far of russia december hedge money. it seems he's now befriended putin who thinks of the russian class as the greatest national calamity. nene, we are in the midst of a european parliamentary election and we've been talking in recent weeks on this program about the shift to the right so how should we see what's happene in slovakia? >> i think this will really worry politicians. but the only real challenges they have are on the far right

or some of these political extremes. as we were saying before this. the party is a bit of an anomaly. it has roots on the left butt has aligned itself with the far right largely because there hear simplesimple thinkses in both p. some are extremely concerned that now we have the specter of political violence within the effort u.'s borders. that will really worry them ahead of these election. christian: it's worth stepling back and thinking about the enormous tectonic events happening in our world. had we not led with robert phoenixo, we probably would have focused on the russian offensive

on kharkiv. that's ringing alarm bells in the west. in many ways it's part of the same story because it's pulling at the threads of the alliance. the slovakian prime minister was in turkey a few weeks ago meeting with his russian counterpart. in the last hour we've entered the president of georgia and this is what he said about the link. with everything that's going on and what has happened today. have a listen. >> the polarization is getting everywhere very tense and that has to do with social networks where people are just giving way to their inner hate speech and everything and that's very dangerous. so, yes, we are in that type of politics around the world and it's something that could be controlled as much as possible. christian: do you see

connections -- i mean, we see it in other places, don't we? we've seen it in poland, hungary, in other eastern central european countries. the war in ukraine is very much part of the political debate. >> there are wars within wars. there is the real war. fighting in the trenches in ukraine, which has had far-reaching implications but it has provoked these political wars, which as we've seen today, can turn violent. that's why there's been a sharp intake of breath right across europe. christian: and in georgia in recent days. >> night after night you would have been speaking on the program about the fears of violence in the united states because people's unwillingness to hear the other side. nene was at a truth tellers conference today focuses on the disinformation, what was happening on social media and

the issues of social media again are threading through this political crisis unfolding in slovakia. as you said, we have to look at this. these are really issues, threats. of our time. and yes, the full-scale russian invasion of ukraine may have sounded the first knell and it has sparked off concerns of all kinds, including what we seeing today. you can't draw a direct line but certainly the politics, as we've been discussing -- very much our coverage of his return to power was very much about his view on ukraine. not a single bullet will go there and interesting, president zelensky today was talking about an end to political violence. everyone no matter where they stand polite comply has condemned this attack. christian: sorry to cut you short. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by...

financial services firm, raymond james. cunard is a proud supporter of public television. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... woman: two retiring executives turn their focus to greyhounds,