Slovakia’s Prime Minister is in critical condition after a gunman attempted to assassinate him. Robert Fico is reportedly fighting for his life in hospital. He was shot after a government meeting in front of The House of Culture, in Slovakia.
The Slovak government office reported that Prime Minister Robert Fico sustained life-threatening injuries during an attempted assassination on Wednesday, resulting in him being shot and wounded.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert FicoAccording to Local TV Channel TA3, four shots were fired and one of the shots hit Fico in the stomach.
The shooting happened in the central Slovakian town of Handlova which is about 150 kilometers (93 miles) northeast of the capital Bratislava, where Fico’s cabinet had been meeting.
It happened in front of the local “House of Culture” where populist leader, Fico, was meeting supporters.
Slovakian parliament’s deputy speaker, Lubos Blaha, has since confirmed the incident in a parliament session adjourned until further notice.
A reporter for one daily newspaper stated that he heard shooting and then saw rescuers taking the 59-year-old politician to a car.
Another witness told Reuters news agency that he heard several shots and afterward saw a man being detained by police.
Also, another witness stated that he had been waiting to greet the PM. He said: “I was just going to shake his hand when the shots rang out it almost deafened me”.
Cops arrested the alleged assailant on site as the police cordoned off the area and the House of Culture was evacuated.
According to Pluska, the injured prime minister was airlifted by helicopter to a nearby hospital after he suffered shots to the chest and abdomen. In a message later posted on Fico’s Facebook page, his staff stated that the premier was shot a couple of times and was “currently in a life-threatening condition.”
Reacting, Peter Pellegrini, Slovakia’s President-elect and an ally of Robert Fico stated that “an assassination attempt on the Prime Minister is a threat to everything that has adorned Slovak democracy so far.”
Pellegrini added: “I am horrified by where the hatred towards another political opinion can lead. We don’t have to agree on everything, but there are plenty of ways to express our disagreement democratically and legally.”
Also reacting, the head of the liberal political party Progressive Slovakia, Michala Šimeček, said: “We unequivocally and strongly condemn any violence. We trust that Prime Minister Fico will be fine and that this terrible act will be brought to light as soon as possible.”
Fico has been the Prime Minister of Slovakia since September 2023.
