Slovakian local media is reporting that Prime Minister Robert Fico, gravely injured in an assassination attempt, regained consciousness after a long surgery. According to statements from Slovakian Environment Minister Tomas Taraba, Fico is in a stable condition, and he is not currently at risk of death.
Taraba said that he was shocked to hear of the incident but that he was still hopeful about Fico's prognosis, adding that the Prime Minister suffered stomach and joint injuries, which were not serious enough to be considered life-threatening. An earlier statement from Slovak Defence Minister Robert Kalinak, however, said that Fico was in a critical condition while undergoing surgery.
The attack, which Slovak Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said was politically motivated, took place immediately after the government meeting in Handlova, some 150 km northeast of the capital. Estok said that the attacker's motives seemed to be partly political, with increased tension because of social media hostility after the elections.
Slovak media later identified the attacker as Juraj Cintula, reportedly a poet and the founder of the Slovak Association of Writers, and a supporter of the opposition Progressive Slovakia party, and used his licensed gun for the crime.
The Smer-SD party is a left-wing party, and Fico had returned to office in October 2023 after serving two stints as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018.
He has halted the previous policy of military aid to Kiev and called for a negotiated settlement between Russia and Ukraine. This had put him at odds with other European countries, save Hungary, which follows a similar course.
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