An unidentified gunman shot two bullets through the bedroom windows of HZDS member and former Finance Minister Miroslav Maxon in Trenčín on May 16, said HZDS spokesman Marián Kardoš. Nobody was injured as Maxon and his family had been in the ground-floor living room celebrating his birthday when the two "small calibre bullets" shattered the first floor bedroom windows.
Maxon classified the incident as "another in a series of violent attacks against opposition politicians," citing the January 11 murder of former Economy Minister Ján Ducký. "I don't want to let my imagination get carried away, but nothing other than a political motive can be considered. I have to say that it was not a nice birthday present as my efforts, really, are to serve the nation through policy," he said. Maxon, a staunch supporter of HZDS presidential candidate Vladimír Mečiar, added that "my political conviction has not changed and I will support Mečiar in the second round [of the presidential elections]."
Although Maxon called the shooting "an attack against [his] person," police investigator Jaroslav Ivor called the shooting a "criminal offence of damaging property, but not an attempted murder." Damage to windows and bedroom furniture was estimated at 10,000 Slovak crowns and, upon Maxon's request, a police officer and a dog have been placed on guard in front of his Trenčín residence.
