- A shooting hospitalized Fico on Wednesday, during a public meeting.
- Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak stated that Fico's state is still very serious.
- After being airlifted from the scene of the attack, Fico underwent a five-hour-long surgery.
The shooting hospitalized Fico on Wednesday as the 59-year-old leader was speaking to members of the public after a meeting in the central town of Handlova. Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak told reporters outside the hospital in Banska Bystrica that Fico underwent another operation, which lasted almost two hours.
Shortly after being airlifted from the scene of the attack on Wednesday, Fico underwent a five-hour-long surgery.
“His state is still very serious. I think it would take a couple of days to see the course of the development of his state,” Kalinak added on Friday.
The Banska Bystrica hospital director stated that Fico remained “conscious” despite being in a “serious” condition. Earlier on Friday, local media reported that Slovak police had searched the home of the man charged with the shooting.
Markiza TV footage showed officers bringing along the alleged gunman, who was wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet, to the apartment he shared with his wife in the western town of Levice.
“Police stayed in the apartment for several hours... They took the computer and documents out of the apartment,” the private broadcaster said.
Media have identified him as 71-year-old writer Juraj Cintula, although police, who told AFP they would not comment on an ongoing investigation, have not named the suspect. On Thursday, authorities charged him with attempted murder with premeditation in what they have called a politically motivated attack.
Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said, "This is a lone wolf whose actions were accelerated after the presidential election since he was dissatisfied with its outcome."
The attack has stirred fears of further violence and instability in the politically polarized nation, just weeks before European Parliament elections.
Officials noted that the attack was linked to the political situation in the country, highlighting that its political scene has been marred by disinformation and attacks on social media during recent election campaigns.
Slovak president-elect Peter Pellegrini, who won an election in April, urged the political parties on Wednesday to suspend or reduce campaigning before the EU vote. The biggest opposition party, centrist Progressive Slovakia, and others announced that they had done so.
Fico, a four-time premier and political veteran, returned to office in October. Since then, he has made a string of remarks that have soured ties between Slovakia and neighboring Ukraine after he questioned the country’s sovereignty.
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