The Associated Press has cited local Slovak media has reported Media Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was injured in a shooting and taken to hospital.
The incident took place in the town of Handlova, some 150 kilometers northeast of the capital, according to the news television station TA3. A suspect has been detained, it said.
Latest media report say it was an assassination attempt.
“There was an assassination attempt on R. Fico. He was shot multiple times and is currently in a life-threatening condition. The next few hours will be decisive,” said a statement on Fico’s official Facebook page, according to CNN.
Robert Fico's official Facebook account reports that the politician is in a life-threatening condition."
This is while, local media report that Fico is already in hospital and his condition has been stabilized.
The suspected gunman was detained at the scene by law enforcement officers, according to Slovakia’s state news agency TASR, quoted by the CNN report.
The official statement said the PM was taken there instead of the capital city of Bratislava because “an acute intervention” was necessary. Handlova is about two hours’ drive from the capital Bratislava.
Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová condemned what she called a “brutal and reckless” attack on the 59-year-old politician. “I’m shocked. I wish Roberto Fico all the strength in this critical moment to recover from the attack,” Čaputová wrote on Facebook.
MNA