(Bratislava) Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is “between life and death” after being injured by several bullets on Wednesday after a cabinet meeting, the government of this central European country said.
Robert Fico, aged 59, was to undergo “urgent intervention” after being flown by helicopter to Banska Bystrica, a town in central Slovakia, the government said in a statement.
According to his official Facebook page, Mr. Fico was shot “several times.”
“We have been informed by doctors that the prime minister is in critical condition, his life is in danger and he is still in the operating room,” Matus Sutaj Estok said at a press conference held at the The hospital where Mr. Fico is operated on.
The assassination attempt came after a cabinet meeting in Handlova, central Slovakia.
“The police have arrested the attacker and will provide more information as quickly as possible,” the outgoing president of Slovakia, Zuzana Caputova, also announced in a statement, describing the attack on her political opponent as an “attack against democracy “.
PHOTO RADOVAN STOKLASA, REUTERS
A man was arrested by the police.
Slovak television broadcast images of a man in jeans handcuffed on the ground. Local media say the suspect is a 71-year-old writer, but police have given no indication of his identity.
Mr. Fico was first transported to Handlova hospital, in the “vascular surgery unit”, indicated the director of the establishment, Marta Eckhardtova, who did not give details on the nature of his injuries.
PHOTO JAN KROSLÁK, ASSOCIATED PRESS
“He is currently being transported by helicopter to Banska Bystrica between life and death,” the government said in a statement, calling the attack an “assassination attempt.”
A pro-Putin ex-communist
After returning to power as prime minister last October, Robert Fico questioned Ukraine’s sovereignty and stopped all military aid to the country.
This former member of the Communist Party, who founded his own party and rejects the labels of “populist” and “demagogue”, opposed sanctions against Russia.
In April, he nevertheless made a change of tone regarding the war in Ukraine, advocating a peaceful solution that respects the “territorial integrity” of this country.
PHOTO RADOVAN STOKLASA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico
His ally in the government, Peter Pellegrini, won the presidential election last month, well ahead of a pro-European diplomat, by making the war in Ukraine a key element of the campaign in this country of 5.4 million inhabitants, member of the European Union and NATO.
Its government coalition notably adopted a controversial bill on public radio and television RTVS which the government accuses of lacking objectivity
Strong emotion in Europe
The leaders of the European Union institutions reacted strongly to the news.
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen deplored the “despicable attack” against the Slovak Prime Minister, judging that “such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our common good.” more valuable.”
“Nothing can ever justify violence or such attacks,” stressed European Council President Charles Michel, while NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg declared himself “dismayed”.
In Hungary, bordering Slovakia, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he was “deeply shocked by the heinous attack perpetrated against my friend, Prime Minister Robert Fico”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the “appalling” attack on the Slovak prime minister. And Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke of a “heinous crime”, describing Robert Fico “as a courageous and determined man”.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “shocked by the shots that hit the Slovak prime minister” and expressed his “solidarity” for the Slovak people.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, for his part, said he was “distraught by the cowardly attack”, because “violence can have no place in European politics”.
The head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni expressed “the strongest condemnation of all forms of violence and attacks on the basic principles of democracy and freedom”. And British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “shocked to hear this appalling news”.
Finally, US President Joe Biden condemned a “despicable act of violence”, adding that he and his wife Jill “were thinking of his family and the people of Slovakia”.