EU Actively Monitoring 'Fake News' On Slovak Prime Minister Assassination Attempt
Before Slovakia national authorities could even come out with a confirmed motive for Wednesday's assassination attempt against its prime minister Robert Fico, the following disturbing quote from EU leadership was reported via Bloomberg:
The European Commission said it’s "actively monitoring" the spread of fake news about Wednesday’s shooting of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and warned it can slap Big Tech platforms with fines for failing to tackle disinformation.
The regulator "is equipped with wide-ranging investigatory and supervisory powers, including the power to impose sanctions and remedies," it said in an emailed statement.
Properly translated, this is the EU in effect wanting to control the narrative, or at least make sure there are no inconvenient 'conclusions'. What kinds of stories might they be worried about?...
Interestingly, Slovak Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok in a fresh Thursday statement providing an update of the situation appeared to indirectly attack mainstream media gatekeepers who have long smeared Fico and his policies as 'pro-Kremlin', and have at times gone so far as to suggest he's in cahoots with Putin.
Here's what the interior minister had to say in the briefing:
Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok asked journalists to “reflect” on how they had covered Fico’s policies. He referred to the suspect — who was charged with premeditated murder — as a “lone wolf” who did not belong to any political groups, though he said the attack itself was politically motivated.
“I can confirm that this person is not a member of any right-wing or left-wing radicalized party,” Estok said.
"I can confirm to you that the reason it was a politically motivated, attempted premeditated murder is as the suspect himself said: the media information that he had at his disposal," he said.
As for what's been officially released on the suspect, who has been charged with attempted murder, the AP writes that "Slovak police have provided little information on the identity of the suspect. But unconfirmed media reports suggested he was a 71-year-old retiree who was known as an amateur poet, and may have previously worked as a security guard at a mall in the country’s southwest."
More speculation of the type that would without doubt be 'concerning' to EU media gatekeepers and bureaucrats...
I wonder who would want him dead. https://t.co/E4Ef8JMDAp
— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) May 15, 2024
As for Prime Minister Fico and his wounds from the shocking attack, he's said to still be in "very serious" but stable condition at an intensive care unit at F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica after he had been shot several times at close range while greeting supporters.