CNN
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Slovakia's Prime Minister Roberto Fico was shot multiple times in an assassination attempt and was admitted to hospital in life-threatening condition on Wednesday.
The shooting occurred after a government off-site meeting in Handlova. Fico was first taken to a local hospital and then taken by helicopter to the main trauma center in Banská Bystrica, about 30 kilometers away.
Footage from the scene shows the injured prime minister being pushed into a car by several staff members and then driving away from the scene as soon as the car gets inside.
“There was an assassination attempt on R. Fico. He was shot multiple times and is currently in a life-threatening condition. The next few hours will be decisive,” Fico's official Facebook page said. said the statement.
The suspected gunman was detained at the scene by law enforcement officers, Slovak state news agency TASR said.
An official statement said the prime minister was taken to Banská Bystrica rather than the capital Bratislava because “urgent intervention” was required. Handlova is about 2 hours by car from the capital Bratislava.
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. Mr. Fico pledged to immediately end Slovakia's military aid to Ukraine and to thwart Ukraine's NATO ambitions, which would upend Slovakia's strong support for 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.
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.
