The Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico is said to be in “life-threatening condition” after he was wounded in a shooting on Wednesday, May 15, in the town of Handlova, Al Jazeera reports. “He was shot multiple times and is currently in a life-threatening condition,” read a message posted on Wednesday on Fico’s social media account. The Prime Minister’s account said he was in need of “acute intervention,” adding, “the next few hours will decide.” Slovakia’s President Zuzana Caputova condemned “a brutal and ruthless” attack on the prime minister. “I’m shocked,” Caputova said. “I wish Robert Fico a lot of strength in this critical moment and a quick recovery from this attack.” Earlier, reports on local media said that Fico was hit four times in the stomach outside the House of Culture in the town of Handlova in the afternoon. Police sealed off the scene and a suspect has been detained, according to the Dennik N news outlet and TA3, a Slovakian TV station. European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, condemned the attack on the Slovakian premier. “Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good. My thoughts are with PM Fico, his family”, von der Leyen said on X. Fico, a third-time premier, and his Smer, or Direction, party, won Slovakia’s September 30parliamentary elections.
