Slovakia's populist Prime Minister, Robert Fico, was seriously wounded on Wednesday after being shot multiple times during a meeting with supporters, in what appeared to be an attempted assassination. The shocking incident sent ripples across Europe, particularly as it occurred just weeks before an upcoming election.
According to Defense Minister Robert Kalina, doctors were still battling to save Fico's life several hours after the 59-year-old pro-Russian leader was struck in the abdomen. Kalina informed reporters at the hospital that Fico's operation was ongoing, and his condition was described as “extraordinarily serious.”
The shooting took place outside a cultural center in Handlova, a town approximately 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital. Fico was attending a government meeting in this town of 16,000, once a prominent coal mining hub, when the incident occurred.
A suspect is in custody, and preliminary investigations suggest a clear political motive behind the assassination attempt, stated Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok during a briefing alongside the defense minister.
