It appears for the first time in public after being seriously injured, the Slovak prime minister has a message for the bomber.

In a recorded and Facebook video statement before the European Parliament elections, he said the attack caused serious damage to his health and that “would be a miracle if I returned to work in weeks”.

He has recovered from multiple wounds after being shot in the womb as he greeted supporters 15 May in the town of Handlova, about 140km northeast of the capital, Bratislava.

Fico said he must return to work at the end of June and July, and that he felt no “hatred” against the attackers.

“I pardon it”, the Slovak prime minister, who had won parliamentary elections months earlier, said.

By contrast, 71-year-old writer Juraj Cintula, who was arrested as suspect of attempted 59-year-old assassination, has said after the attack that “did so because I did not agree with his government's policies”.

Cintula is founder of the Duha Literary Club and member of the Slovak Writers' Association.