Video of Slovakia's prime minister criticizing WHO from months before shooting | Fact check

Chris Mueller, USA TODAY
·4 min read
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The claim: Video shows Slovakia's prime minister speaking out against WHO a week before assassination attempt

A May 15 Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico speaking behind a microphone. Captions included in the video indicate Fico is railing against the COVID-19 vaccines and the World Health Organization in the speech.

“One study after another confirms the scandalous consequences of mass vaccination with experimental untested vaccines," Fico says at one point, according to the captions in the video. “If someone had a different opinion on vaccination against Covid – they were dangerous to society.”

Part of the post's caption reads, "WHY THE GLOBALISTS WANTS HIM DEAD. Now we know why they tried to assassinate the Prime Minister of Slovakia. Slovakia REJECTED The WHO Pandemic Accord! Only last week Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico gave this speech."

The post was shared 50 times in a week. A similar post on X, formerly Twitter, was reposted more than 5,000 times in six days.

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Our rating: False

The video is from November 2023, not "last week," as the Facebook post claims. Slovak government officials have said the assassination attempt against Fico was politically motivated, but no credible news reports have linked it to his stance on the WHO's pandemic agreement.

Video of Fico has been online since November 2023

Fico was shot and wounded in the abdomen while meeting with supporters May 15 in the town of Handlova, which is northeast of Slovakia's capital, Bratislava, the Associated Press reported. The 59-year-old underwent multiple surgeries following the assassination attempt, but the hospital where he is being treated says his life is no longer at risk and he is "conscious and communicative."

The suspect, who is charged with attempted murder, was identified by the country's media as 71-year-old Juraj Cintula, an amateur poet and former security guard, The Guardian reported. While Slovak government officials previously said they believed the assassination attempt was politically motivated and committed by a "lone wolf," they've since announced that a “third party” might have been “acting for the benefit of the perpetrator,” the AP reported.

But there is no proof this assassination connects to the narrative presented in the social media posts.

The video of Fico in the Facebook post isn't from "only last week," it has been online since at least Nov. 17, 2023, nearly six months before the assassination attempt. And there are no credible news reports about the attempted assassination being linked to his criticism of the WHO or the pandemic accord.

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The Slovak Spectator, an English-language magazine in Slovakia, reported in early December 2023 that Fico called the WHO's pandemic agreement "nonsense that must have been created by insatiable pharmaceutical companies." Euractiv, a European news outlet, also dated Fico's comment to November 2023.

In late 2021, the WHO’s member states, including the U.S., agreed to develop a global accord meant to help countries prevent and respond to future pandemics. The Intergovernmental Negotiating Body has regularly met since then to work out the details. The agreement could be adopted by the member states during the 77th World Health Assembly, which starts May 27.

Fico became Slovakia's prime minister in 2023, though he has held the position twice before, first from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018. Fico's pro-Russia views have divided the country, which shares a border with Ukraine, the AP reported.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video shows Fico six months before assassination attempt | Fact check