GENEVA: Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is in a ‘life-threatening condition’ after he was shot and injured on Wednesday, his Facebook account said in a statement.
“He was shot multiple times and is currently in a life-threatening condition,” the statement said.
Fico was rushed to Banska Bystrica due to the necessity of an “acute intervention.’
According to the state-run TASR news agency, the incident took place when an attacker fired several shots in front of the House of Culture in the central city of Handlova, where a government meeting was being held.
The attacker was detained after the attack, it added.
Local JOJ television reported that a man in the crowd opened fire at the prime minister when he came out of the building to greet the residents of the city.
‘Appalled’
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he is “appalled” by the shooting of Slovakia’s prime minister a day ago.
“We are all appalled by the shooting of Prime Minister Robert Fico,” Stoltenberg said in his opening remarks
at the Military Committee in Chiefs of Defense meeting.
He said he worked with Fico for almost 20 years as colleagues when they were both prime ministers years ago.
“It violates every idea of democracy,” he said regarding the shooting. “In democracies, we can disagree, we can have different opinions, but violence is absolutely unacceptable.”
“So, our thoughts are with the Prime Minister Robert Fico, his family, and the people of Slovakia,” he added.
China expressed profound dismay over the attack on Slovakia’s prime minister.
“China is deeply shocked by the attack on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, and extends sincere condolences to him and his family,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in a press conference in Beijing.
China “strongly condemns this violent attack,” he added.
Defense Minister Robert Kalinak on Thursday said doctors spent the night “fighting for his life.”
A 71-year-old suspect is currently in custody, though authorities are still piecing together the motive behind the att
ack.
Source: Philippines News Agency
