Man sentenced to 21 years in prison for assassination attempt on Slovakia's Prime Minister Fico

PRAGUE (AP) — A court in Slovakia on Tuesday convicted a man of a terror attack and sentenced him to 21 years in prison over last year’s attempted assassination of the country's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico.

The shooting and the trial have shaken this small, European Union and NATO-member country where Fico has long been a divisive figure, criticized for straying from Slovakia’s pro-Western path and aligning it closer to Russia.

Juraj Cintula opened fire on Fico on May 15, 2024, as the prime minister greeted supporters following a government meeting in the town of Handlová, about 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital of Bratislava.

Cintula, 72, was arrested immediately after the attack and remanded in custody. When questioned by investigators, he rejected the accusation of being a “terrorist.”

Fico was shot in the abdomen and was taken from Handlová to a hospital in the nearby city of Banská Bystrica. He underwent a five-hour surgery, followed by another two-hour operation two days later. He has since recovered.

Cintula has claimed his motive for the shooting was that he disagreed with government policies. He refused to testify before the Specialized Criminal Court in Banská Bystrica. but confirmed that what he had told investigators about his motive remains true.

“The defendant did not attack a citizen, but specifically the prime minister,” Igor Králik, the head of the three-judge panel, said in delivering the verdict. “He was against the government, he was inciting people to overthrow the government.”

The verdict of the panel was unanimous. The court said that Cintula’s age and the fact that he had no criminal record contributed to why he did not receive life imprisonment.

“It is unjust,” Cintula kept saying in Slovak as he was leaving the courtroom.

In his testimony, read by a prosecutor at the trial, Cintula said he disagreed with Fico’s policies, including the cancellation of a special prosecution office dealing with corruption, the end of military help for Ukraine and the government’s approach to culture.

“I decided to harm the health of the prime minister but I had no intention to kill anyone,” he said in the testimony. He also said he was relieved when he learned the premier survived.

Cintula's attorney, Namir Alyasry, told reporters his client would very likely appeal the verdict. He was originally charged with attempted murder but prosecutors later dropped that charge and said they were instead pursuing the more serious charge of engaging in a terror attack. They said it was based on evidence the investigators obtained but gave no further details.

Government officials initially said they believed it was a politically motivated attack committed by a “lone wolf,” but announced later that a third party might have been involved in “acting for the benefit of the perpetrator.”

Fico previously said he “had no reason to believe” it was an attack by a lone deranged person and repeatedly blamed the liberal opposition and media for the assassination attempt. There is no evidence for that.

The prime minister was not present at the trial and did not immediately comment on the verdict. Fico had previously said he felt “no hatred” towards his attacker, forgave him and planned no legal action against him.

Fico returned to power for the fourth time after his leftist Smer, or Direction, party won the 2023 parliamentary election after campaigning on a pro-Russia and anti-American message.

His critics have charged that Slovakia under Fico is following the direction of Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Thousands have repeatedly rallied in Bratislava and across Slovakia to protest Fico’s pro-Russian stance and other policies.

AP video journalist Jan Gebert in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, contributed to this report.

Juraj Cintula, who shot and seriously injured Prime minister of Slovakia Robert Fico last year, is convoyed at the Specialized Criminal Court in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP)

Juraj Cintula, centre, who shot and seriously injured Prime minister of Slovakia Robert Fico last year, attends hearings at the Specialized Criminal Court in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP)

Juraj Cintula, who shot and seriously injured Prime minister of Slovakia Robert Fico last year,attends hearings at the Specialized Criminal Court in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP)

FILE -Juraj Cintula, center, is escorted to the Specialized Criminal Court in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, July 8, 2025, for a trial over last year's attempted assassination of Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico. (Vaclav Salek/CTK via AP, File)

BEIJING (AP) — Breaking with the United States, Canada has agreed to cut its 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on Canadian farm products, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday.

Carney made the announcement after two days of meetings with Chinese leaders. He said there would be an initial cap of 49,000 vehicles on Chinese EV exports to Canada, growing to 70,000 over five years. China will reduce its tariff on canola seeds, a major Canadian export, from about 84% to about 15%, he told reporters.

“It has been a historic and productive two days,” Carney said, speaking outside against the backdrop of a traditional pavilion and a frozen pond at a Beijing park. “We have to understand the differences between Canada and other countries, and focus our efforts to work together where we’re aligned.”

Earlier Friday, he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged to improve relations between their two nations after years of acrimony.

Xi told Carney in a meeting at the Great Hall of the People that he is willing to continue working to improve ties, noting that talks have been underway on restoring and restarting cooperation since the two held an initial meeting in October on the sidelines of a regional economic conference in South Korea.

“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China–Canada relations toward improvement,” China's top leader said.

Carney, the first Canadian prime minister to visit China in eight years, said better relations would help improve a global governance system that he described as “under great strain.”

He called for a new relationship “adapted to new global realities” and cooperation in agriculture, energy and finance.

Those new realities reflect in large part the so-called America-first approach of U.S. President Donald Trump. The tariffs he has imposed have hit both the Canadian and Chinese economies. Carney, who has met with several leading Chinese companies in Beijing, said ahead of his trip that his government is focused on building an economy less reliant on the U.S. at what he called “a time of global trade disruption.”

A Canadian business owner in China called Carney's visit game-changing, saying it re-establishes dialogue, respect and a framework between the two nations.

“These three things we didn’t have,” said Jacob Cooke, the CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, which helps exporters navigate the Chinese market. “The parties were not talking for years.”

Canada had followed the U.S. in putting tariffs of 100% on EVs from China and 25% on steel and aluminum under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Carney’s predecessor.

China responded by imposing duties of 100% on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood. It added a 75.8% tariff on canola seeds last August. Collectively, the import taxes effectively closed the Chinese market to Canadian canola, an industry group has said. Overall, China's imports from Canada fell 10.4% last year to $41.7 billion, according to Chinese trade data.

China is hoping Trump’s pressure tactics on allies such as Canada will drive them to pursue a foreign policy that is less aligned with the United States. The U.S. president has suggested Canada could become America's 51st state.

Carney departs China on Saturday and visits Qatar on Sunday before attending the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland next week. He will meet business leaders and investors in Qatar to promote trade and investment, his office said.

Associated Press business writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, center, arrives to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, Pool)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)