A suspect has been taken into custody Wednesday after Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times, leaving him in a “life-threatening condition.”
The shooting happened in Handlova, about 90 miles northeast of the capital of Bratislava.
“Utterly shocked by today’s brutal attack on Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, which I condemn in strongest possible terms,” Slovakia President Zuzana Čaputová wrote on X.
A statement on Fico’s Facebook page says he has “been shot multiple times and is currently in life-threatening condition.” He is expected to receive a medical procedure, it added, noting that “the next few hours will decide.”
In the wake of the shooting, Slovakia’s major opposition parties, Progressive Slovakia and Freedom and Solidarity, canceled a planned protest against a controversial government plan to overhaul public broadcasting that they say would give the government full control of public radio and television.
“We absolutely and strongly condemn violence and today’s shooting of Premier Robert Fico,” said Progressive Slovakia leader Michal Simecka. “At the same time we call on all politicians to refrain from any expressions and steps which could contribute to further increasing the tension.”
Slovakia, a country of 5.5 million people that shares a border with Ukraine, also has been a staunch supporter of Kyiv since Russia invaded in February 2022, donating arms and opening its borders for refugees fleeing the war.
But Fico has stopped military aid. He also opposes European Union sanctions on Russia and wants to block Ukraine from joining NATO, according to The Associated Press.
Fico, a third-time premier, and his leftist Smer, or Direction, party, won Slovakia’s Sept. 30 parliamentary elections, staging a political comeback after campaigning on a pro-Russian and anti-American message.
Critics are worried Slovakia under Fico will abandon the country’s pro-Western course and follow the direction of Hungary under populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, The Associated Press reports.
Images taken from the area where the shooting happened Wednesday showed a male individual being detained by authorities and Fico being rushed into a vehicle. The motive for the shooting is unclear.
Reports on TA3, a Slovakian TV station, said that Fico, 59, was hit in the stomach after four shots were fired outside the House of Culture in Handlova.
Source : Foxnews
