Operated on for hours

Prime Minister Fico responsive again after assassination attempt

Robert Fico was operated on for several hours after the attack.(Bild: APA/AP)

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico is responsive again after the serious shooting attack on Wednesday, as President-elect Peter Pellegrini announced. He was able to speak to Fico himself, he said after a visit to the hospital in Banská Bystrica, where the seriously injured politician is being cared for. Pellegrini confirmed that Fico's condition was "still serious".

The president-elect explained that a "red line" had been crossed with the assassination attempt. "The head of government escaped death by a hair's breadth, it would have been enough if the bullet wound or several bullet wounds had been a few centimeters further and we might have to talk about completely different things today."

"He was very tired"
The situation of the head of government is still very critical. "I only spoke to him for a few minutes because the doctors asked me for a short visit." Fico "has difficult hours and days ahead of him", said Pellegrini. "It was a very personal conversation, he was very tired. It was not possible to talk to him at length or about politics."

Pellegrini, a political ally of Fico, went on to say that he hoped the head of government would be able to make decisions again in the next few days. Until then, one of his deputy prime ministers will stand in for him, said Pellegrini. He will take over the office of head of state from outgoing President Zuzana Čaputová in mid-June.

Fico was shot several times in the street on Wednesday afternoon as he was about to greet some citizens. The suspected shooter, a 71-year-old writer, was arrested on the spot. 

Assassin "a lone wolf"
He is said to be a lone perpetrator. "It is a lone wolf who recently became radicalized during the presidential election campaign," said Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok in Bratislava on Thursday. The crime was politically motivated, but the 71-year-old was not a member of any political group. The man is accused of attempted murder.

The suspected assassin was arrested on the spot.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AFP/RTVS)

According to Defense Minister Robert Kaliňák, Fico was hit by four bullets. The injuries were very serious. "The doctors have managed to stabilize his condition," said Kaliňák. "We have had a difficult night," said the deputy head of government. Kaliňák is considered a close confidant of Fico and is also his deputy in the left-wing party Smer.

Was Fico sufficiently protected?
Meanwhile, the authorities are investigating whether the bodyguards did not protect Fico sufficiently. Corresponding investigations "for obstructing the duties of a public official" had already been initiated on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the authorities told the TASR news agency on Thursday. Several Slovakian experts had criticized the security precautions. They criticized, among other things, that the bodyguards had acted chaotically immediately after the attack.

The attack left the EU and NATO member state Slovakia in a state of shock and caused international consternation. Outgoing President Zuzana Čaputová and her elected successor Peter Pellegrini invited the political parties to consultations. "Let's get out of the vicious circle of hatred and mutual accusations," Čaputová appealed in Bratislava on Thursday. The attack was an individual act. "But the tense atmosphere of hatred was our joint work."