Brian McDonald
The Prime Minister of Slovakia remains in serious condition after being attacked and shot several times earlier this week, officials said Saturday.
Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova said Prime Minister Robert Fico underwent a two-hour surgery on Friday to remove dead tissue from multiple gunshot wounds that “contributed to a positive prognosis.” Dolinkova was speaking outside the FD Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica, where Fico was taken by helicopter after the shooting.
“Several miracles have occurred in Banska Bystrica in recent days at the hands of doctors, nurses and staff at Roosevelt Hospital,” said Defense Minister Robert Kalinak.
Fico, 59, was attacked as he greeted supporters after a government meeting on Wednesday in the former coal mining town of Handlova, almost 135 kilometers northeast of the capital. At least four shots were fired outside a cultural center and the suspect was knocked to the ground and arrested.
Video from the scene showed security personnel pushing the injured prime minister into a car before speeding away. He was transferred to a helicopter and cameras captured him being taken on a stretcher, covered in blankets, to the hospital.
Radovan Stoklasa/REUTERS
Fico’s condition is still too serious to transport him to the capital, Bratislava, Kalinak said.
The update on Fico’s health came at the same time as the man accused of trying to murder him appeared in court for the first time, according to Slovak state media.
Prosecutors were seeking an order from the Slovak Specialized Criminal Court to detain the suspect.
Prosecutors told police not to publicly identify the man or release other details about the case, but unconfirmed media reports said he was a 71-year-old retiree known as an amateur poet who may have worked as a security guard at a mall in southwestern country. .
O assassination attempt shocked the small Central European nation, with many blaming the attack, in part, on the extreme political polarization that divided the country.
Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said on Wednesday that an initial investigation found “a clear political motivation” behind the attack on Fico as he attended a government meeting in a former coal mining town. However, he said Thursday that the accused suspect was a lone wolf who “did not belong to any political group.”
The court in Pezinok, a small town on the outskirts of the capital, Bratislava, was guarded by officers wearing balaclavas and carrying shotguns. News media were not allowed to enter and reporters were kept behind a gate outside.
Police took the suspect on Friday to his home in the city of Levice and seized a computer and some documents, Markiza, a Slovak television station, reported. Police did not comment.
World leaders condemned the attack and offered support to Fico and Slovakia.
Fico has long been a controversial figure in Slovakia and elsewhere. From him return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American platform led to concerns among fellow European Union and NATO members that he would abandon his country’s pro-Western course, especially with regard to Ukraine.
At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Slovakia was one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, but Fico suspended arms deliveries to Ukraine when he returned to power, his fourth time as prime minister.
Fico’s government also made efforts to public broadcasting reform – a measure that, according to critics, would give the government total control of public television and radio. This, combined with your plans to change the penal code to eliminate a special anti-corruption prosecutor, led opponents to fear that Fico would lead Slovakia down a more autocratic path.
Thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly gathered in the capital and across the country of 5.4 million people to protest his policies.
Fico said last month on Facebook that he believed rising tensions in the country could lead to the assassination of politicians and blamed the media for fueling tensions.
Before Fico returned to power last year, many of his political and business associates were the target of police investigations and dozens were charged.
His criminal justice reform plan would eliminate the position of the special prosecutor who deals with organized crime, corruption and extremism.
