The Slovak Prime Minister, the populist Robert Fico, has been injured after suffering an “attempted assassination” this Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior confirmed to Reuters. The Government has reported that the leader’s life is in danger. Fico has been transferred by helicopter in a very serious condition from Handlová, where the shooting occurred, to Banská Bystrica, “because it would take too long to reach Bratislava, given the need for critical intervention,” according to a government statement. “The next few hours will be decisive,” adds the text.
Sources from the Handlová hospital, where he was initially treated, have assured that the leader was conscious when he arrived at the health center in the town, about 200 kilometers northeast of Bratislava. The same sources stated that after treating him for gunshot wounds and stabilizing his vital signs, Fico was transferred to another higher-level hospital.
According to the preliminary report reported by local media, shots were heard in front of the Handlová House of Culture. The prime minister fell to the ground and was taken to a vehicle to be evacuated from the scene and taken to hospital. The leader had approached to greet people after a government meeting when the shots were fired, according to the newspaper Dennikn. After arresting the attacker, the police cordoned off the area and evacuated the cultural center.
The Operations Center of the Slovak Emergency Medical Service reported that shortly after 2:30 p.m. it received information on the emergency line about a man wounded by a gunshot in Handlová. “We sent a rescue helicopter to the 59-year-old patient. The intervention is still ongoing,” he added.
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Fico returned to power in Slovakia after the parliamentary elections on September 30 with a pro-Russian and anti-Western message. In 2018 he was forced to resign as prime minister after protests that led to the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his partner, Martina Kusnirova, when the reporter was investigating connections between people close to Smer, his party, and the Italian mafia. as well as government corruption scandals.
The country’s president, Zuzana Caputová, regularly in confrontation with Fico, has strongly condemned the attack, calling it “brutal and reckless.” “I’m shocked. I wish Robert Fico a lot of strength to recover from the attack at this critical moment,” she wrote on the social network X.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has immediately condemned the “vile attack” against Fico. “These types of acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine our democracy, which is our most precious common good,” he said through X. The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has declared himself stunned by an attack unjustifiable, he said on the same social network. “Nothing can ever justify violence or this type of attack,” he stressed, while, like Von der Leyen, he expressed his support for Fico and his family.
Leaders such as the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, have also used this social network. “Shocking news from Slovakia. “Robert, my thoughts are with you at this very difficult time.” The head of the Czech Government, Petr Fiala, also wished him a speedy recovery. “I am deeply shocked by the atrocious attack against my friend, Prime Minister Robert Fico,” his greatest ally in the EU, Hungarian Viktor Orbán, also wrote in X.
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