Doctors are fighting for the life of Slovakian prime minister – Defence minister

Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, was shot several times and seriously hurt on Wednesday after a political event. This shocked the small country and made news all over Europe.

The doctors were still trying to save the life of the pro-Russian leader, age 59, after he was shot in the stomach. The Defence Minister said this to the reporters outside the hospital where the leader was being treated.

According to the Defence Minister, Fico’s surgery still wasn’t done and said Fico was in very bad shape.

At least four gunshots were heard outside a cultural center in a town called Handlova. The town is about 140 kilometers away from the capital city. The prime minister, Fico, was meeting with his supporters at the time of the incident.

The police have arrested a suspect, and after looking into the matter, they found that the motive behind the assassination attempt was political, according to the Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok. He provided this information to the reporters along with the defense minister.

“Kalinak said there is no doubt about it. ”

Fico is a controversial figure in Slovakia and other countries. When he came back to power last year with a pro-Russian, anti-American message, it made other European Union members even more worried. They were afraid he would move Slovakia further away from the Western mainstream.

His government stopped sending weapons to Ukraine, and some people are concerned that he will make Slovakia, a country of 5.4 million people that is part of NATO, stop supporting the West and start following Hungary, led by populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Thousands of people have come together many times in the main city and all over Slovakia to show their disagreement with Fico’s decisions.

A post on Fico’s Facebook account said he was taken to a hospital in Banska Bystrica, which is 29 kilometers (17 miles) from Handlova. It was closer than going to the capital, Bratislava, so they went there instead.

The attack happened as political campaigning gets busier before the Europe-wide elections to pick lawmakers for the European Parliament in three weeks. People are worried that leaders like Fico, who are popular with ordinary people and put their country first, could win more support in the 27 countries that make up the bloc.

“Attacking the prime minister is like attacking a person, but it also hurts democracy,” said President Zuzana Caputova, who is a political opponent of Fico, on TV. Violence is never okay. The mean words we hear in society make people do mean things. Please, let’s put an end to it. ”

Peter Pellegrini, who will be the new president, is a friend of Fico. He said that the shooting is a big danger to Slovak democracy and has never happened before. If we use guns to share different political views in public places instead of voting at the official voting locations, we are risking everything we have achieved in the 31 years of Slovakia being independent.

US President Joe Biden said he was worried. “We are against this terrible violent act,” he said in a statement.

NATO leader Jens Stoltenberg said he was very upset by the attempt to hurt Fico, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it a terrible attack.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized the attack on the leader of a nearby country.

“He said we need to try hard to stop violence from becoming common in any country, form, or area. ”

Fico, who has been the Prime Minister three times before, and his leftist Smer party, won the election in Slovakia in September. 30 elections in Parliament.

Traditional politics were set aside when the nation had to deal with the shock of the attempt on Fico’s life.

Slovakia’s Parliament was closed for now and will not open again until later. The big rival parties, Progressive Slovakia and Freedom and Solidarity, have called off a protest they were going to have. They were upset about a government plan to change public broadcasting. They think the plan would let the government take over public radio and TV completely.

Michal Simecka from Progressive Slovakia said he does not like the violence.

“At the same time, we ask all politicians to not say or do anything that could make the situation more tense,” Simecka said.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala hopes the leader gets better soon.

“We don’t accept violence, it has no place in society. ” The Czech Republic and Slovakia were together as Czechoslovakia until 1992.