(NationalUSNews.com) — A gunman recently attacked Robert Fico, Slovakia’s prime minister, during a standard visit to the town of Handlova, resulting in the prime minister sustaining life-threatening injuries.
Bystanders in Handlova described hearing multiple gunshots during the altercation and seeing security personnel load Fico into a nearby vehicle before leaving the area. Fico’s security transported the prime minister to a nearby hospital, and medical staff haven’t announced any updates about Fico’s health aside from confirming the prime minister is no longer in critical condition. Slovakian officials have taken to social media to post more information about the incident and condemn the unidentified gunman who attacked Fico in Handlova.
Slovakia’s President Zuzana Čaputová shared his thoughts about the shooting on X, formerly known as Twitter, where he provided condolences to Fico’s family and wished the wounded prime minister a speedy recovery. Fico’s political adversary Michal Šimečka also addressed the shooting on X, where he condemned the use of violence by any Slovakians and wished for Fico’s recovery. Šimečka also said that he hoped authorities would release more information about the shooting to identify the gunman behind the heinous attack.
Fico has served as Slovakia’s prime minister on four occasions and resigned in 2018 before rejoining the country’s government in 2023. Fico has famously contested Slovakia’s government’s attempts to provide foreign aid to countries like Ukraine, much to the dissatisfaction of NATO and other countries within the European Union. While some critics have accused Fico of supporting Russia in the past due to his opposition to aid packages to Ukraine, the prime minister has strongly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and offered to help Ukraine through other methods.
Although Fico sustained gunshot wounds to the abdomen and his limbs, hospital staff managed to prevent the prime minister’s death through medical procedures. Slovakian authorities have announced that they’ve detained the shooter, whom they confirmed was a 71-year-old man, and shared insight into the shooter’s potential motivations for assassinating Fico. The unidentified shooter allegedly attempted to kill Fico due to his personal political beliefs, which Slovakian investigators claimed stemmed from a recent election victory for one of Fico’s friends, Peter Pellegrini, who will succeed Zuzana Čaputová as the next Slovakian president.
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