“Fico’s election victory alarmed West. He has been shot": Media manipulations and fakes

Espreso TV reports.

According to the Centre for Countering Disinformation, on May 16, one fake and one manipulation appeared in the world. 

Manipulation: British journalist Afshin Rattansi wrote on his X (Twitter) account: "Robert Fico’s election victory raised alarm in Washington, London, Paris, Berlin and Brussels due to his opposition to the prolonging of the proxy war in Ukraine. Now he has been shot. Coincidence?"

Retraction: The journalist, similar to Russian propagandists, is trying to blame Ukraine's partners and Ukraine itself for the incident with Robert Fico, without any grounds. The goal is to demonize Ukraine and discredit the support of its allies in the eyes of the international community.

Disinformation: American economist Jeffrey Sachs said: "After next Tuesday, he (Zelenskyy - ed.) will be the de facto leader, which is completely unconstitutional. So now he's acting on the basis of a martial law decree that he signed before his constitutional mandate expired, but that expires next week, and after that he's just going to be a de facto leader."

Retraction: Such statements are another attempt to spread the Kremlin's narrative of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's "illegitimacy" as part of the Maidan-3 disinformation campaign. As the Ukrainian Constitution and relevant legislation prohibit the holding of any elections under martial law, the current president of Ukraine remains the legitimate leader of the state.

• On May 15, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was wounded in a shooting after a government meeting.
• On May 16, media reported that the National Council (Parliament) of Slovakia was stepping up security measures following the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Robert Fico on May 15.
• On May 16, Slovak Interior Minister Matusz Szutaj Esztok suggested that the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Robert Fico was politically motivated.