the prognosis for Robert Fico’s state of health is “positive” after his operation

The prognosis regarding the state of health of the head of the Slovak government Robert Fico after the assassination attempt is “positive”announced the Slovak Minister of Health on Saturday May 18. “Yesterday’s surgical intervention, which lasted two hours, contributed to a positive prognosis for the Prime Minister’s state of health”, Zuzana Dolinkova told journalists. The shooting occurred on Wednesday as Robert Fico greeted supporters after a remote government meeting in the town of Handlova in central Slovakia.

He was taken to hospital by helicopter and underwent a five-hour surgery. After the second intervention, on Friday, the director of the Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystrica also declared: “The patient is now conscious, his condition is stable, but he is still in intensive care. His condition is really serious.” “If the shot had gone a few centimeters higher, it would have hit the prime minister’s liver”added Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok to the TA3 news channel on Saturday.

Justice decided on Saturday to place in pre-trial detention the suspect in the attempted assassination of the Prime Minister. The detention was ordered because “there are fears of a potential escape or that criminal activity will continue”, said Katarina Kudjakova, spokesperson for the special criminal court in Pezinok, northeast of Bratislava. The suspect is a 71-year-old man, identified by Slovak media as a local writer.