Slovak PM Robert Fico is fighting for his life in hospital after being shot in a small town north-east of Bratislava.
According to Defense Minister Robert Kalinak, PM Fico had been in surgery for over three hours and that the situation was “bad”.
Slovak politicians including the president have called the shooting an “attack on democracy”.
The alleged assailant was detained at the scene but has not yet been formally identified by the authorities.
The attack happened at about 14:30 local time in Handlova, about 110 miles from the capital Bratislava, as Robert Fico greeted people in front of a cultural community centre where a government meeting had been held.
Footage showed a man raising a gun and firing five times at the prime minister before being subdued by bodyguards while other members of Robert Fico’s security detail took the prime minister into his car.
He was airlifted by helicopter to a nearby hospital before being flown to another hospital in Banska Bystrica, east of Handlova.
At a press conference on May 15, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said PM Fico had been shot in the stomach.
“Initial information clearly points to political motivation,” he added.
Unconfirmed local media reports said the suspect was a 71-year-old writer and political activist.
A video being widely circulated on Slovak media purports to feature the suspect.
In the footage, the man says he disagrees with government policy and its stance towards state media.
Slovakia’s outgoing president Zuzana Caputova said something “so serious had happened that we can’t even realise it yet”.
Robert Fico, 59, returned to power in Slovakia after elections last September, at the head of a populist-nationalist coalition.
His first few months as prime minister have proved highly contentious politically. In January he halted military aid to Ukraine and last month pushed through plans to abolish public broadcaster RTVS.
Thousands of Slovaks have protested against the proposed reform of the public broadcaster in recent weeks. However, a planned opposition-led demonstration was called off on May 15 as news of the shooting emerged.
Parliament was sitting at the time of the attack and Slovak media reported that a party colleague of Robert Fico’s shouted at opposition MPs, accusing them of stoking the attack.
President-elect Peter Pellegrini, who is a political ally of Robert Fico’s, said he was horrified to hear of the attack and also blamed the shooting on recent political divisions.
Describing the attack as an “unprecedented threat to Slovak democracy” he said people did not have to agree on everything, but there were ways to express disagreement democratically and legally.
World leaders have also condemned the attack on Robert Fico. President Joe Biden condemned the “horrific act of violence” and said the US embassy was in “close touch” with the Slovakian government and was “ready to assist”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said there could “be no justification for this monstrous crime”.
Anti-refugee PM Robert Fico has won Slovakia’s general election but lost his parliamentary majority, almost complete results show.
The leftist-nationalist prime minister will now need to find coalition partners to return for a third term.
Gains by small parties, including an extreme right one, may produce a divided parliament with no clear path to forming a majority government.
Robert Fico, 51, has vowed not to accept “one single Muslim” migrant.
Slovakia takes over the EU’s rotating presidency in July. His hard-line views on migration echo those of Polish, Czech and Hungarian leaders.
In all, nine parties, including the far-right Our Slovakia led by Marian Kotleba, will be represented in parliament. Our Slovakia won more than 8% of the vote.
With about 50% of the vote counted, Robert Fico’s Smer-Social Democracy party is on about 29% support, which would give it 48 seats in the 150-member parliament.
As the leader of the strongest party in Saturday’s poll, Robert Fico is expected to be asked to form a new government.
Robert Fico is known for populist policies such as free train travel for students and pensioners.
He has fiercely opposed EU quotas on migrant resettlement from Greece and Italy, which would see his country take about 2,600 people.
Slovakia received only 260 asylum requests in 2015.
Andrej Kiska has won Slovakia’s presidential election, despite having no previous political experience.
Tycoon Andrej Kiska, standing for office for the first time, defeated current PM Robert Fico in the second round of voting.
Early poll counts suggested Andrej Kiska had gained about 60% of the vote.
Andrej Kiska’s victory stopped Robert Fico’s social democrats from gaining control of both the presidency and parliament.
Correspondents say the prospect of social-democrat domination appeared to galvanized Robert Fico’s opponents.
Andrej Kiska has won Slovakia’s presidential election, despite having no previous political experience
Robert Fico ended his campaign by wooing voters with tales of his traditional Catholic upbringing in an attempt to appeal to Slovakia’s majority Catholic population.
He portrayed Andrej Kiska as a scientologist, a claim the tycoon denies.
Robert Fico has been in office since the 2012 elections, which saw a party securing an absolute majority in the Slovak parliament for the first time since independence.
“It’s a new feeling to be voting for myself,” said Andrej Kiska, who has never previously run for office, as he cast his ballot in his provincial hometown of Poprad, in northern Slovakia.
France’s President Francois Hollande and European Parliament chief Martin Schulz had both backed fellow leftist Robert Fico.
Andrej Kiska capitalized on his image as a newcomer untainted by allegations of corruption that have ravaged Slovakia’s right-wing.
With no communist past, he is seen as a skilled businessman. He says he wants to fight corruption and create a more efficient government.
Andrej Kiska will be sworn in on June 15, when leftist incumbent Ivan Gasparovic’s second term ends.
Slovakia’s PM Robert Fico and independent challenger Andrej Kiska will run for a second round of the country’s presidential elections.
In Saturday’s first round, Robert Fico polled 28.2% with Andrej Kiska on 24% on a turnout of 43.4%.
Independent conservative Radoslav Prochazka was third with 20.8%.
As no candidate gained 50% of the votes, a second round run-off will be held in two weeks’ time for the mainly ceremonial post.
Robert Fico’s left-wing Smer party won the parliamentary election in 2012.
The 49-year-old had previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010, pursuing an anti-austerity agenda.
Since the 2012 elections Robert Fico’s party has governed alone – the first time since independence that a party secured an absolute majority in the Slovak parliament.
Slovakia’s president has the power to appoint the prime minister, as well as the main figures in the judiciary.
Independent challenger Andrej Kiska and PM Robert Fico will run for a second round of Slovakia’s presidential elections (photo SITA/Jozef Jakubèo)
However, parliament exercises legislative power.
Robert Fico’s bid for the presidency is widely seen as an attempt to make his domination of Slovak politics total.
Outgoing President Ivan Gasparovic was elected for the first of two five-year terms in 2004 as voters united against former PM Vladimir Meciar.
Slovakia adopted the euro in 2009 during Robert Fico’s previous term as prime minister.
The country has since seen significant economic growth.
Past governments had been blamed for privatization scandals and other forms of corruption.
Analysts say challenger Andrej Kiska, a 51-year-old millionaire, is riding a wave of continuing popular anger at allegations of sleaze and distrust in established parties.
Andrej Kiska says he wants to fight corruption and create a more efficient government.
Slovakia votes in a presidential election that pits current PM Robert Fico against independent challenger Andrej Kiska.
PM Robert Fico is seen as the frontrunner, ahead of businessman-turned-philanthropist Andrej Kiska.
Opinion polls predict a two-candidate run-off vote will follow as no one is expected to win an outright majority.
Robert Fico’s leftist Smer party won over half of the seats in parliament in the 2012 general election.
The Slovak president has the power to appoint the prime minister, as well as the main figures in the judiciary.
However, it is a largely ceremonial role and parliament exercises legislative power.
Slovakia’s PM Robert Fico is seen as the frontrunner in today’s presidential election
Outgoing President Ivan Gasparovic was elected for the first of two five-year terms in 2004 as voters united against former nationalist PM Vladimir Meciar.
Slovakia adopted the euro in 2009 during Robert Fico’s previous term as prime minister.
The country since has seen significant economic growth.
Past governments been blamed for privatization scandals and other forms of corruption.
Analysts say Andrej Kiska is riding a wave of continuing popular anger at sleaze and distrust in established parties.
The 51-year-old is a successful businessman-turned-philanthropist who says he wants to fight corruption and create a more efficient government.
Other candidates in Saturday’s vote include actor Milan Knazko, who was a leading figure of the 1989 Velvet Revolution that ended Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, and Radoslav Prochazka, an independent conservative lawmaker with a degree from Yale Law School.
Saturday’s first round is unlikely to produce an outright winner, who would need over 50% of the vote, but is expected to send Robert Fico and Andrej Kiska into a run-off on March 29.
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