Slovakia: Prime Minister Fico’s life is no longer in danger after shooting, minister says | Politics News

Prime Minister Robert Fico remains in a serious condition, but his life is no longer in danger, Slovak authorities say.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico’s life is no longer in danger following an assassination attempt, Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak said.

“He has emerged from the immediate threat to his life, but his condition remains serious and he requires intensive care,” Kalinak, Fico’s closest political ally, told journalists on Sunday.

A gunman shot Fico several times last week in an attack that sent shockwaves around the world, and government officials said his life was in danger.

The incident occurred as the Slovak leader was greeting supporters after a government meeting in the central town of Handlova.

Fico underwent a five-hour operation on the same day he was shot, as well as a second procedure on Friday at a hospital in the central town of Banska Bystrica.

“We can consider his condition stable with a positive prognosis,” Kalinak said outside the hospital, adding: “We all feel a little more relaxed now.” Kalinak noted that Fico would remain at Banska Bystrica for now.

The shooting was the first major assassination attempt on a European political leader in more than 20 years.

The suspected gunman, identified by Slovak media as a 71-year-old poet and former security guard, was charged with attempted premeditated murder and was ordered to be held in custody at a hearing on Saturday.

Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said authorities were investigating the possibility that the suspect was not a “lone wolf” as previously believed.

The attack raised alarms about the polarized state of politics in the Central European country of 5.4 million people.

Fico, 59, took office in October after his centrist populist Smer party won the general election.

He is serving his fourth term as prime minister after campaigning on peace proposals between Russia and Ukraine, Slovakia’s neighbor, and suspending military aid to Kiev, which his government did.

According to Estok, the suspect was angered by the government’s policy towards Ukraine.

Fico leads a coalition made up of Smer, the centrist HLAS and the small nationalist party SNS.

Kalinak, the deputy prime minister, said the government would continue without Fico “in accordance with the program he outlined.”

Slovakia’s outgoing president, Zuzana Caputova, and her successor, Peter Pellegrini, an ally of Fico who takes power in June, tried to calm political tensions after last week’s attack.

Following a proposal from Caputova and Pellegrini, several parties suspended campaigning for the European Parliament elections scheduled for June.