BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — When a gunman shot Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico this week, shock rippled across the Central European country — even though the pro-Russia leader himself warned that the nation was so divided that an assassination attempt was possible.

Slovaks have long disagreed over the path their country should take; should it retain traditional ways and a friendly relationship with Moscow or embrace liberal values and press ever closer to the West. But recently that polarization over the country’s future, fueled by vitriolic rhetoric from politicians, has deepened.

The country of 5.4 million has been beset by large protests deriding Fico’s policies since he returned to power in September, after campaigning on a nationalist and EU-skeptic platform.

Slovakia, which joined the European Union and NATO in 2004, was one of neighboring Ukraine’s staunchest supporters when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Fico, seeking closer ties with Moscow, vowed to immediately cease providing weapons assistance to Kyiv.