Bratislava, June 5 (TASR) - The first post-shooting speech by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) is a political disappointment, as there seems to be no course change and Fico apparently decided to reject the effort to pursue societal reconciliation, leader of opposition's Progressive Slovakia (PS) Michal Simecka stated in response to Fico's video on Facebook on Wednesday.

"We all kept our fingers crossed for his speedy recovery, we've all strongly condemned the deed committed by the shooter and we all hoped to take a step together towards societal reconciliation. But that first speech indicates that Prime Minister Fico has rejected this," claimed Simecka.

Simecka pointed out that in the video the Prime Minister spends 14 minutes blaming the media, opposition, artists, the EU and foreign partners. "Instead of actively contributing to societal reconciliation, he called the shooter an "activist of the political opposition" and reiterated conspiracy theories about a global conspiracy of [George] Soros against Slovakia," he added.

Simecka is glad to see that the Premier's health has improved and wishes him a quick return to work. "However, his speech has only confirmed all the reasons why we're convinced that it's imperative to defeat Smer-SD politically in democratic elections," he claimed.