Wounds That Won’t Heal: Trauma, Power and Politics in Slovakia – COMMENTARY

When political fear fuels societal fracture and threatens democratic discourse

16 May 2025

A year after the assassination attempt on Slovakia’s prime minister, political divisions have hardened. Trauma is no longer a wound to heal, but a weapon to silence critics and intimidate journalists.

The assassination attempt on the prime minister was a collective trauma that affects most citizens, regardless of whether they agree with Robert Fico’s views or criticise him for the way he wields power.

People watched the footage of the shooting of the prime minister countless times. Again and again. Some could not believe what they were seeing; after all, leaders of countries were killed in America, not in Slovakia. They asked themselves over and over again what had actually happened and what consequences it might have for their lives.

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Beata Balogova

Editor-in-chief of SME

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