(Bloomberg) -- A double murder in a gay bar in Slovakia’s capital has rattled nerves in the eastern European nation, prompting the head of state to denounce a political climate that she said fuels hate. 

President Zuzana Caputova called the killing of two men in Bratislava late Wednesday a hate crime directed against Slovakia’s LGBTQ community, the product of “stupid and irresponsible statements of politicians,” she wrote in a Facebook post. 

“We politicians are responsible for every single word we utter, yet many here recklessly fill the space with hate,” Caputova wrote. 

Several hundred demonstrators gathered in the capital late Thursday to commemorate the victims and call on the government to promote inclusiveness, many denouncing politicians -- including those in the governing coalition -- for adopting increasingly hostile rhetoric with respect to LGBTQ people and minorities. 

Police are investigating the murder at a trendy cafe at the foot of Bratislava Castle in the capital’s old city as a possible hate crime. The suspected assailant, a 19-year-old man, was found dead early Thursday in the capital, police said. Social media posts show that he had posted hate-filled content and had planned the crime since 2019.

The suspect, whom police didn’t identify, had published a photo of the bar on a social network in August and waited outside the establishment before gunning down the victims, witnesses told local media. 

Caputova didn’t identify individual politicians in her post -- and almost all party leaders, including Prime Minister Eduard Heger, condemned the murder as a brutal and unacceptable crime.  

But she’s not the first to note the coarsened nature of Slovak politics, where far-right parties have made gains and verbal attacks against minorities have become more commonplace. 

Slovak media reported that the suspected murderer was the son of a one-time candidate for a far-right party, Homeland. Another party, Republic, which wants to ban schools from teaching about homosexuality, has enough public support to enter parliament in the next election.  

Other parties hostile to the LGBTQ community have entered the mainstream. A right-wing populist party that’s part of Heger’s coalition, We Are Family, has campaigned on a platform against immigration and LGBTQ rights. 

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, acknowledged the crime in a Twitter post calling for protecting LGBTQ rights. 

“These abhorrent murders are a threat to our societies built on respect and tolerance,” von der Leyen said. “The EU is committed to helping fight hate crime and speech in all form.” 

The combustible tone in Slovak politics has been accompanied by advances by elements on the fringes. The ruling party, which has been beleaguered by constant infighting, pushed through legislation in June with votes from the far-right People’s Party, which has ties with neo-Nazi groups and celebrates Slovakia’s World War II fascist leader, Jozef Tiso. 

Igor Matovic, the finance minister and leader of the ruling party, lauded the “pro-family” majority even as he denied cooperating with extremists. Former Prime Minister Robert Fico also occasionally relied on votes from the far right. 

It’s not the first time the nation of 5.5 million has been shocked by a murder. The 2018 killing of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak triggered outrage over corruption and organized crime in the country, which brought down the government and spurred calls for reform. 

(Updated with demonstration, von der Leyen comments from fourth paragraph.)

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