The prime minister of Slovakia stays in serious condition after he was attacked and shot multiple times earlier this week, officers stated Saturday.
Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova stated Prime Minister Robert Fico had undergone two hours of surgical procedure on Friday to take away lifeless tissue from a number of gunshot wounds that “contributed to a positive prognosis.” Dolinkova was talking outdoors the University F.D. Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystrica, the place Fico was taken by helicopter after the taking pictures.
“Several miracles have occurred in Banska Bystrica in recent days coming from the hands of doctors, nurses and the personnel at the Roosevelt Hospital,” Defense Minister Robert Kalinak stated.
Fico, 59, was attacked as he greeted supporters following a authorities assembly Wednesday in the previous coal mining city of Handlova, practically 85 miles northeast of the capital. At least 4 pictures had been fired outdoors a cultural heart and the suspect was tackled to the ground and arrested.
Video from the scene confirmed safety personnel speeding the wounded premier right into a automotive earlier than driving away at velocity. He was transferred to a helicopter and cameras then captured him being rolled on a stretcher, lined by blankets, into the hospital.
Radovan Stoklasa/REUTERS
Fico’s condition is still too grave to move him to the capital, Bratislava, Kalinak stated.
The replace on Fico’s well being got here on the similar time the person accused of making an attempt to assassinate him made his first court look, based on Slovak state media.
Prosecutors had been looking for an order from Slovakia’s Specialized Criminal Court to detain the suspect.
Prosecutors informed police to not publicly determine the person or launch different particulars in regards to the case, however unconfirmed media stories stated he was a 71-year-old retiree identified as an novice poet who might have as soon as labored as a mall safety guard in the nation’s southwest.
The attempted assassination shocked the small central European nation, with many blaming the assault in half on excessive political polarization that has divided the nation.
Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok stated Wednesday that an preliminary investigation discovered “a clear political motivation” behind the assault on Fico whereas he was attending a authorities assembly in a former coal mining city. However, he stated Thursday that the suspect charged was a lone wolf who “did not belong to any political groups.”
The courthouse in Pezinok, a small city outdoors the capital, Bratislava, was guarded by officers carrying balaclavas and carrying rifles. News media weren’t allowed in and reporters had been saved behind a gate outdoors.
Police on Friday had taken the suspect to his house in the city of Levice and seized a pc and a few paperwork, Markiza, a Slovak tv station reported. The police did not remark.
World leaders have condemned the assault and supplied help for Fico and Slovakia.
Fico has lengthy been a divisive determine in Slovakia and past. His return to power last year on a pro-Russia, anti-American platform led to worries amongst fellow European Union and NATO members that he would abandon his nation’s pro-Western course, significantly on Ukraine.
At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Slovakia was one in all Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, however Fico halted arms deliveries to Ukraine when he returned to energy, his fourth time serving as prime minister.
Fico’s authorities has additionally made efforts to overhaul public broadcasting — a transfer critics stated would give the federal government full management of public tv and radio. That, coupled along with his plans to amend the penal code to eradicate a particular anti-graft prosecutor, have led opponents to fret that Fico will lead Slovakia down a extra autocratic path.
Thousands of demonstrators have repeatedly rallied in the capital and across the nation of 5.4 million to protest his insurance policies.
Fico stated final month on Facebook that he believed rising tensions in the nation might result in the killing of politicians, and he blamed the media for fueling tensions.
Before Fico returned to energy final 12 months, a lot of his political and enterprise associates had been the main focus of police investigations, and dozens have been charged.
His plan to overtake the penal system would eradicate the workplace of the particular prosecutor that offers with organized crime, corruption and extremism.