Journalists voice concern after senior figures from ruling coalition blame independent outlets and opposition parties for incident

• Slovakia PM shooting – latest updates

Journalists in Slovakia fear the attempted assassination of the country’s prime minister, Robert Fico, could lead to even more polarisation and a crackdown on independent voices.

In the hours after Fico was shot on Wednesday, several senior politicians from the ruling coalition blamed independent media and the opposition for the incident.

RedBird IMI deal effectively killed by new legislation blocking foreign states from owning UK newspapers

The former CNN executive who fronted a failed bid for the Telegraph newspaper by a UAE-backed consortium has suggested the government was not willing to listen to assurances about editorial neutrality.

Jeff Zucker said there were figures in the UK who were “scared” of the £600m deal, which would have seen the Abu Dhabi-backed consortium, RedBird IMI, take control of the Telegraph and Spectator.