Slovakia PM Robert Fico wounded in shooting | News

DEVELOPING STORY,

Slovakia prime minister taken to hospital as President Zuzana Caputova condemns ‘brutal and ruthless’ attack.

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico has been wounded in a shooting and taken to hospital.

Fico was hit in the stomach after four shots were fired outside the House of Culture in the town of Handlova on Wednesday afternoon, Slovakian media reported.

A suspect has been detained, according to the Dennik N news outlet and TA3, a Slovakian TV station.

Deputy speaker of parliament Lubos Blaha confirmed the incident during a session of Parliament and adjourned it until further notice, the Slovak TASR news agency said.

Fico was injured after shots were fired in the town of Handlova [File: Nadja Wohlleben/Reuters]

President Zuzana Caputova condemned “a brutal and ruthless” attack on the prime minister.

“I’m shocked,” Caputova said. “I wish Robert Fico a lot of strength in this critical moment and a quick recovery from this attack.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the assault too.

“Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good. My thoughts are with PM Fico, his family”, she said on X.

Fico, a third-time premier, and his leftist Smer, or Direction, party, won Slovakia’s September 30 parliamentary elections, staging a political comeback after campaigning on a pro-Russian and anti-American message.

Critics worried Slovakia under Fico would abandon the country’s pro-Western course and follow the direction of Hungary under populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Thousands have repeatedly rallied in the capital and across Slovakia to protest Fico’s policies.



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