by Radovan Stoklasa and Boldizsar Gyori
HANDLOVA, Slovakia (Reuters) – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is no longer in danger of death after he was seriously shot on Wednesday leaving a government meeting, an incident Bratislava described as an assassination attempt, declared a member of the government late in the evening.
“The operation went well. He should survive (…) He is no longer in a life-threatening situation at this moment,” Deputy Prime Minister Tomas Taraba told the BBC, also in charge of the Ministry of the Environment.
He added that one of the bullets that hit Robert Fico passed through the leader’s stomach.
The Aktuality news site, citing an unidentified source, reported that Robert Fico had left the operating room and was in stable condition.
A few hours earlier, Defense Minister Robert Kalinak said during a press briefing that Robert Fico was suffering from “severe polytrauma” after being hit by several gunshots.
The leader was between life and death when he arrived at the operating room of the hospital in Banska Bystrica, the largest town closest to Handlova, in central Slovakia, where a delocalized government meeting was taking place.
“This assassination attempt is politically motivated and the decision by its perpetrator was taken shortly after the presidential election,” Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said, referring to last month’s election victory. Peter Pellegrini, ally of Robert Fico.
A Reuters photographer at the scene said he heard several gunshots and saw police arrest a suspect after the government meeting.
According to the Slovak news channel TA3, the assailant shot Robert Fico four times and hit him once in the abdomen.
After receiving first aid at Handlova Hospital, where a spokesperson said Robert Fico was conscious upon arrival, the head of government was transferred by helicopter to Banska Bystrica for transport to the capital Bratislava would have taken too long compared to the severity of his injuries, the government said.
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Aged 59, Robert Fico became Prime Minister again last year, after having already held this position between 2012 and 2018.
He brought his government together in Handlova, just under 200 km from Bratislava, in remote meetings across the country since his return to power.
Many European leaders expressed their emotion following this attack.
Via the social network “I strongly condemn this attack. My thoughts and solidarity go out to him, his family and the Slovak people,” added the French president.
“Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good. My thoughts are with Prime Minister Fico and his family,” reacted Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
Robert Fico’s political positions evolved during his career according to the dominant opinions in the electorate.
Capable of formerly defending European integration then of now expressing a form of hostility towards the EU and the United States, the Slovak Prime Minister now displays populist and nationalist opinions and has notably distinguished himself by refusing to continue to help Ukraine militarily in the face of the Russian invasion.
(Reporting by Radovan Stoklasa, Jason Hovet, Jan Lopatka and Alan Charlish; French version Tangi Salaün and Bertrand Boucey, editing by Blandine Hénault and Jean Terzian)
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