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Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico’s life is no longer at risk, but his condition remains “very serious” after he was repeatedly shot in an assassination attempt, medics and ministers said.
As Fico remained in hospital on Thursday morning with grave injuries after hours of surgery, the attempt on his life — the first against a sitting EU leader in more than two decades — continued to reverberate across the continent just three weeks before European parliamentary elections.
The 59-year-old populist, pro-Russia leader was shot multiple times as he greeted people in the town of Handlová, about 190km from the central European country’s capital Bratislava, in an attack that some of his allies linked to the country’s stark political polarisation.
Slovakia’s security council said it would hold an extraordinary meeting on Thursday alongside a meeting of the government.
Two medical teams operated on Fico for five hours, hospital director Miriam Lapuníková told a news conference on Thursday. She described his condition as “stabilised but very serious”.
Speaking alongside her, defence minister Robert Kaliňák said: “The situation is still very serious precisely because of the complexity of the injuries, but we all want to believe that we will be able to handle the situation.”
Deputy prime minister Tomáš Taraba said one bullet had gone through Fico’s stomach and a second hit a joint. He told the BBC: “Fortunately as far as I know the operation went well, and I guess in the end he will survive . . . He’s not in a life-threatening situation at this moment.”
A 71-year-old man with a gun licence was detained as a suspect over the shooting, local media reported. Footage of the incident shows the shooter being detained on the scene after firing five shots.
The attack has laid bare the deep political divisions in the EU and Nato member state of 5.4mn, where Fico’s election victory in September — heralding his fourth term as prime minister since 2006 — and his moves to overhaul the country’s judicial system have sparked protests.
“This assassination [attempt] was politically motivated and the perpetrator’s decision was created closely after the presidential election,” said interior minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok, referring to the April election won by a Fico ally, Peter Pellegrini.
Andrej Danko, leader of the Slovak National party, which is part of Fico’s ruling coalition, warned that the attack could herald “a political war”.
But outgoing President Zuzana Čaputová, a liberal and outspoken critic of Fico, called for a halt to vitriolic language against politicians. “The hateful rhetoric we witness leads to hateful acts,” she said in a televised address to the nation. “A physical attack on the prime minister is primarily an attack on a person, but also on democracy.”
