Treatment after an assassination attempt
Fico’s surgery apparently went well
May 16, 2024, 12:45 a.m
The Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico is shot in the street. The head of government is critically injured but is immediately taken to hospital. His deputy is now giving a status update.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico is unlikely to die as a result of Wednesday’s attack, according to his deputy Tomas Taraba. “As far as I know, the operation went well – and I think he will survive in the end,” Taraba told the BBC. Fico is currently not in a life-threatening situation.
Defense Secretary Robert Kalinak had said hours earlier that Fico’s condition was extremely serious. He is currently undergoing surgery. Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok also spoke of a life-threatening situation. Fico was shot on the street that afternoon. According to Estok, the attacker fired five shots. A political motive is suspected. The perpetrator was overpowered immediately after the shots. According to earlier reports, Fico was hit in the abdomen during the attack in Handlova.
After the attack, the police evacuated the cultural center where the government meeting had been held. Just a few days ago, Fico accused the liberal opposition of fomenting a climate of hostility against his government. Given the heated atmosphere, it cannot be ruled out that an act of violence could occur at some point.
Scholz reacts shocked
The founder and head of the left-wing party Smer-SSD, which has recently become increasingly nationalistic, has been one of the most popular politicians in Slovakia for almost 30 years. But at the same time he polarizes Slovak society like no other. Opponents call him “pro-Russian” and accuse him of wanting to lead Slovakia on a similar course to Viktor Orban’s Hungary.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz reacted with shock to the “cowardly attack.” That’s what he wrote on the online platform Slovak President Zuzana Caputova also condemned the “brutal and ruthless attack.”