Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and wounded this Wednesday, May 15, in Handlova, a town in the center of the country. He was treated in hospital and is now being transported to the capital Bratislava.
The attack took place some 150 kilometers northeast of the capital. According to Slovak media, a suspect has been arrested.
“Robert Fico was brought to our hospital and was treated in our vascular surgery unit,” the director of Handlova hospital, Marta Eckhardtova, told AFP. “The Prime Minister was then transported out of our hospital, he is on his way to Bratislava,” she said.
“I am shocked. I wish Robert Fico a lot of strength in this critical moment to recover from this attack”, “brutal and irresponsible”, reacted Slovak President Zuzana Caputova in a press release.
“I strongly condemn the despicable attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico. Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good. My thoughts are with Prime Minister Fico and his family”, wrote for his part on President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.