6 months ago
22
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico remained in a serious condition on Thursday after doctors managed to stabilize him following an assassination attempt a day earlier.
Fico was shot several times in an attack that is believed to have had a political motive.
President-elect Peter Pellegrinin said on Thursday that he had visited Fico in hospital.
The suspected shooter, who was detained at the scene, is a 71-year-old man from the town of Levice, according to Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok.
The man was charged with the shooting on Thursday, with Estok saying investigators believed he was "lone wolf" who is "not a memeber of a radicalized political group, either right-wing or left-wing."
The attack happened after a Cabinet meeting as Fico went outside to shake hands with members of the public, with one of the shots hitting him in the chest.
Authorities said there was "a clear political motivation" behind the assassination attempt.
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"During the night doctors managed to stabilize the patient's condition," Defense Minister Robert Kalinak said.
"Unfortunately the condition continues to be very serious due to the complicated nature of the wounds, but we all want to believe firmly that we will succeed in managing the situation," said Kalinak, who also serves as deputy prime minister.
It was reported that five shots were fired in front of the House of Culture in Handlova, a town that lies almost 200 kilometers (125 miles) northeast of the capital Bratislava. Kalinak said four bullets hit Fico.
Local television station RTV Prievidza published a video of the incident, which shows a man pushing against a fence before shooting Fico from close range.
Fico was immediately flown to hospital by helicopter and was in surgery for five hours.
Slovak President Zuzana Caputova, a political rival of Fico, appealed for calm and described the assassination attempt as an "attack on democracy."
rc, msh/dh (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
