Slovakia PM Robert Fico in Stable but Serious Condition after being Shot

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Slovakia's interior minister said the shooting was a politically motivated assassination attempt, noting that “the suspect made the decision to do it shortly after the presidential election.”

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is in a stable but serious condition after being shot five times from a close range and undergoing surgery, his deputy said Thursday, following an assassination attempt that rocked the central European country and sparked global condemnation.

Hospital director Miriam Lapuníková said Fico was currently in an intensive care unit after five hours in surgery.

Deputy Prime Minister Tomáš Taraba told the BBC he believed the operation had gone well. “I guess in the end he will survive. He’s not in a life-threatening situation at this moment.”

Fico, a 59-year-old populist leader who returned to power last year and whose controversial reforms have sparked protests in recent weeks, was gravely injured in an attack on Wednesday after an off-site government meeting in the small town of Handlova, about 90 miles (150km) northeast of the capital.

In the hours after the attack, Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák said Fico was in an “extraordinarily serious” condition and that medical workers in the city of Banská Bystrica were “fighting for the life” of Fico, who suffered “serious polytrauma after several shots”. The prime minister was still being operated on after three and a half hours, he added.

Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok told reporters that the shooting was a politically motivated assassination attempt, noting that “the suspect made the decision to do it shortly after the presidential election.”

Nobody else was injured in the attack. The suspected gunman was detained at the scene, and Slovakia’s outgoing President Zuzana Čaputová said authorities would release more information when they can.

Local reports later identified the alleged gunman as Juraj C, a 71-year-old writer and poet from southern Slovakia, who had spoken on YouTube of his desire to form a political movement.

The Slovak Writers’ Association said Wednesday that the name identified in the local media was a member of the group.

The son of the alleged shooter told the news outlet Aktuality.sk that his father was the legal holder of a gun licence.

A video posted online appeared to show the suspect in detention saying he did not agree with the government’s policies, particularly what he described as the “liquidation” of the media.

Fico returned to power in Slovakia after elections last year, his success fuelled in part by promises to halt military aid to Ukraine, criticisms of sanctions targeting Russia, and campaigns against LGBTQ+ rights.

The first months of his return have proved tense and polarising, with thousands repeatedly taking to streets across the country to protest against government plans, including a media overhaul that critics have warned will imperil freedom of the press.

Slovakia’s defence and interior ministers blamed rising hate speech and division for the political atmosphere in the country, which they said led to the assassination attempt.

Eštok urged politicians and others to stop “spreading hate” on social media. “What has started now was sown by many of you, by your hate,” the interior said.

President Caputova said something “so serious had happened that we can’t even realise it yet, adding that “the hateful rhetoric we witness in society leads to hateful acts.”

Slovakia's state security council is due to convene and the government will also meet on Thursday morning following the assassination attempt, which has been condemned by Hungary, Ukraine, the US, the UK, Czech Republic, and others.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the attack as “vile”, saying: “Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good.”