Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, was put in a “life-threatening” and “serious” condition after being shot multiple times on Wednesday while meeting supporters outside the House of Culture in the town of Handlová, about 100 miles (160km) north-east of the capital, Bratislava. Fico was conscious while being transported to the hospital, a hospital spokesperson said.
Deputy prime minister Tomáš Taraba told the BBC: “I guess in the end he will survive”. He added: “He’s not in a life-threatening situation at this moment.”. Earlier, Robert Kaliňák, Slovakia’s defence minister, said Fico was in an “extraordinarily serious” condition.
Slovakia’s interior minister, Matúš Šutaj-Eštok, said the perpetrator of the attack fired at Fico five times. He said initial information “clearly points to a political motivation”. A suspect was in custody, the country’s president, Zuzana Caputova, said in a televised statement.
According to the news publisher Denník N, Fico was shot in the abdomen and left arm.
Šutaj-Eštok described the incident as “the saddest moment in the 31 years of history of Slovakia … An attack on the prime minister is an attack on democracy. It is an attack on the state itself.”
Šutaj-Eštok also said officials will do everything possible to make sure that the people of Slovakia are safe. He appealed for calm, adding: “We can’t respond to hate with hate.”
President Caputova pleaded for people to “stop hateful rhetoric” during a press conference from the presidential palace in Bratislava.
The suspect is a 71-year-old man, according to local media reports. Slovak news media reported the shooter was a former security guard at a shopping mall.
Global leaders including Joe Biden, Ursula von der Leyen and Vladimir Putin condemned the attack. The US president said he was “alarmed” by the attack. Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán, a close ally of Fico, said he was “deeply shocked by the heinous attack against my friend”. Von der Leyen said: “I strongly condemn the vile attack on prime minister Robert Fico.” UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said his “thoughts are with prime minister Fico and his family”. Olaf Scholz, the chancellor of Germany, said: “I am deeply shocked by the news of the cowardly attack on Slovakian prime minister Fico. Violence must not exist in European politics.” Josep Borrell, Europe’s chief diplomat, said that Europe was “once again witnessing unacceptable attacks against political representatives”.
The shooting has heightened tensions ahead of next month’s European parliament elections, with attacks on German, Spanish and Irish politicians already casting a shadow over public life. European Commission sources said the attack risked fuelling further violence across the political landscape.
