London: There was a daring assassination attempt on Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico in broad daylight on Wednesday afternoon.
Fico suffered life-threatening injuries when he was shot and wounded in Handlova town, located about 150 kilometres northeast of the country’s capital Bratislava, Reuters reported.
Police have detained the suspect.
The 59-year-old Fico was hit in the stomach after four shots were fired at him in front of the local House of Culture when he was meeting his supporters.
Videos of the incident show security persons carrying him to his car and rushing him to a hospital for treatment.
Watch the incident in the video posted by NEXTA:
⚡️⚡️⚡️ The first minutes after the attack on Robert #Fico – the prime minister’s security guards evacuate him to his motorcade while eyewitnesses hold the shooter
According to preliminary information from Slovak media, Fico was shot multiple times. One to the abdomen, one to the… pic.twitter.com/vhcYPPjjlg
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) May 15, 2024
“An assassination (attempt) on Prime Minister Robert Fico was carried out today at the government’s off-site meeting in Handlova,” the government office said in a statement.
He was flown to a nearby hospital.
“He is being transported by helicopter to Banska Bystrica, because it would take too long to Bratislava in view of the necessity of an acute intervention,” the statement said.
