Slovakia's Prime Minister Remaining In Critical Condition After Assassination Attempt

The country's health minister made a statement.

Doctors continue to fight for the life of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot by an intruder after a government field meeting in the town of Handlová.

The health condition of the head of the Cabinet is still critical, he is still in surgery, said the country's Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova.

The attacker shot him five times as Fico walked out to the crowd, the Interior Ministry said. The operation will be lengthy because of damage to several organs. According to media reports, one bullet hit Fico in the stomach, another in the shoulder and a third bullet travelled through the stomach to the thigh bone. The wound caused haemorrhaging in the abdomen.

The 71-year-old writer Juraj Cintula, founder of the left-wing Rainbow literary club in Levica, was detained in the case of the attempted assassination of Fico. He possessed the weapon legally and had previously worked as a security guard at a shopping centre. The son of the alleged shooter said he was "shocked by what happened" and his father never mentioned the possibility of an assassination attempt on the politician. He also denied that Cintula was a patient of a psychiatric hospital.

After his detention, the suspect said he disagreed with the Slovak government's policies. "The media is being liquidated. Why is RTVS (the state-owned national public broadcasting organisation in Slovakia. - TMT)? Judge Mazak - why is he being dismissed from his position?" he said.

Fico became prime minister of Slovakia in the autumn of 2023, after his party won the election. He opposed arms supplies to the Ukrainian army, noting that Bratislava agreed to help with the issue of training AFU soldiers and humanitarian initiatives.

Michal Šimečka, leader of the Progressive Slovakia party and deputy speaker of the country's parliament, said that Cintula had nothing to do with the liberal movement.