OAN’s James Myers
10:57 AM – Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Roberto Fico was shot in an “assassination attempt” on Wednesday, putting his life in danger, the prime minister’s office announced.
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“He has been shot multiple times and is in life-threatening condition,” Fico’s Facebook page said in an update.
The post also said that he would be taken to a hospital in the city of Banská Bystrica instead of the capital Bratislava because “it would take too long considering the urgency of the problem.”
The shooting occurred after a government off-site meeting in the central Slovak town of Handlova.
Local media said the suspect was among a small crowd waiting to greet the prime minister on the street outside the cultural center.
Footage showed the prime minister being rushed into a car by security guards and staff. Fico was then taken to a nearby hospital and then transferred by helicopter to a major trauma center in Banská Bystrica, nearly 32 miles away.
Meanwhile, Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová said the suspected gunman was in police custody.
Čaputova condemned the “brutal and reckless” attack on the prime minister.
“I was surprised. I wish Roberto Fico all the best at this critical moment to recover from the attack,” Čaputova wrote on Facebook. At a late afternoon press conference, she said the attack was “also an attack on democracy.”
His political opponent Maria Kolikova described the attack as an “attack on Slovakia’s internal security.”
Fico was elected last October. He recently held a press conference in which he said he would launch an investigation into domestic politicians pushing for mandatory vaccinations.
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