Attack this morning on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico , wounded by gunshots in Handlova, near Bratislava.
Fico was shot in front of a cultural center in the city where a government meeting was being held . According to journalists present at the scene, several shots were heard. The Slovak leader was taken to hospital by air ambulance , and according to what transpires he was hit in the abdomen, chest and limb by 5 gunshots.
A leader of the prime minister's Smer party confirmed that the prime minister was hit in the abdomen and underwent surgery. The Slovak government also specified in a note that Fico was "transported by helicopter to Banska Bystrica between life and death ", defining the attack as an " murder attempt ".
After the Defense Minister, Robert Kaliňák , had reported that Fico was in "extraordinarily serious" condition and was "fighting for his life", more reassuring statements came late in the evening from Deputy Prime Minister Tomas Taraba: "Fortunately, as far as I know , the operation was successful, it went well, and I believe that in the end Robert Fico will survive."
Slovak TV Ta3 reported that the operation lasted over 4 hours and that the shots did not damage the main arteries. Now the prime minister is in a medically induced coma .
The attacker, who was hiding among the crowd gathered in front of the building where the prime minister was speaking, had already been arrested by the police. «Robo, come here!» , he allegedly shouted at Fico before firing. It would be a 71-year-old , "a man of the left" explain the local media, originally from the town of Levice who "in 2016 worked for a private security service".
THE REACTIONS – The country and the whole of Europe are in shock . “I am completely shocked by today's brutal and reckless attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico, which I condemn in the strongest possible manner,” Slovakia's president, Zuzana Caputova , wrote in X. «I wish him a lot of strength in this critical moment and a speedy recovery. My thoughts also go to his family and loved ones,” he added.
«I learned with deep shock the news of the cowardly attack on the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. All my thoughts are with him, his family and the friendly Slovak people", the words of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni . «Also on behalf of the Italian government - adds Meloni - I wish to express the strongest condemnation of any form of violence and attack on the cardinal principles of democracy and freedoms».
« I strongly condemn the cowardly attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico . Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good. My thoughts go to Prime Minister Fico and his family" writes the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen , in X.
«I am shocked by the horrific attack on Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico in Handlova. On behalf of the European Parliament, I condemn this act of violence. My thoughts are with him and his family in this difficult moment", writes the president of the European Chamber Roberta Metsola in X.
(Unioneonline/vl)