EU Elections Continue as Slovakia Casts Its Ballot

Voting is underway in Slovakia and Italy as part of the European Union's elections. In Slovakia, the election is taking place under the shadow of an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Robert Fico by a 71-year-old poet on May 15. Fico has released a pre-recorded video statement describing his attacker as "an activist of the Slovak opposition." The attack has left Fico visibly thinner and recovering from multiple wounds. Analysts suggest that the incident may boost the chances of Fico's leftist Smer (Direction) party, the senior partner in the governing coalition, to win the vote.