Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters
Security guards transport Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in a car after the May 15, 2024 shooting in Handlova.
CNN
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Slovakia’s Prime Minister Roberto Fico was shot after a government meeting and is being treated in hospital, the country’s state news agency reported on Wednesday.
According to TASR news agency, several shots were fired at Fico. The prime minister’s condition was not immediately known, and Slovakia’s emergency medical service said it had dispatched a helicopter ambulance to the scene.
The town of Handlova, where the shooting occurred, is about two hours’ drive from the capital Bratislava. The government was in town for an off-site meeting.
Slovak President Zuzana Čaputova condemned the “brutal and reckless” attack on the 59-year-old politician. “I was surprised. I wish Roberto Fico all the best at this critical moment to recover from the attack,” Čaputova wrote on Facebook.
Fico won a third term as Slovakia’s prime minister in October last year after running a campaign criticizing Western aid to Ukraine. Ahead of the election, Fico made no secret of his sympathies for the Kremlin, accusing “Ukrainian Nazis and fascists” of provoking President Vladimir Putin to launch the invasion, saying the Russian president was trying to justify the invasion. I repeated the false story I had been using.
Although Fico was an opponent, he became a close ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, especially when it came to criticizing the European Union.
Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images/File
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico attends the Council of Europe Summit in Brussels on April 18, 2024.
Fico previously served as Slovakia’s prime minister for more than 10 years, from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. He was forced to resign in March 2018 after weeks of mass protests over the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiance. , Martina Kushnirova. Mr. Kuciak reported on corruption within the country’s elite, including those directly connected to Mr. Fico and his party, SMER.
European leaders immediately condemned the attack. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter: “We strongly condemn this despicable attack on Prime Minister Roberto Fico. Such acts of violence have no place in our societies and threaten our most precious… It undermines the common good of democracy. My thoughts are with Prime Minister Fico and his family.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán added: “I am deeply shocked by the vicious attack on my friend, Prime Minister Roberto Fico. I wish him good health and a speedy recovery! God bless him and his country.” !”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
