Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico saw a “slight improvement” after undergoing surgery following an assassination attempt, Slovak media reported.
Fico was seriously injured last week when he greeted his supporters in the central town of Handlova. The prime minister underwent two lengthy operations at a hospital in the central town of Banska Bystrica.
Since then, his condition has been “stable but serious.” The hospital reported on Friday:
The development of the prime minister’s health condition is stable with a slight improvement. We believe that this progress will continue.
However, the hospital did not provide further information about the next steps in Fico’s treatment. His closest political ally, Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak, announced on Wednesday that Fico would remain at Banska Bystrica Hospital for now, as his transport to another facility was “definitely out of the question.”
The accused gunman, identified by Slovak media as 71-year-old poet Juraj Cintula, was charged with premeditated attempted murder. Police remanded him in custody at a hearing on Saturday. According to a court document seen by the press, the suspect said he shot Fico to speak out against the government’s policy towards Ukraine.
During the interrogation, he stated that since he does not agree with the policy of the current government… he decided to act.
The defendant stated, among other things, that he disagreed with the government’s decision to abolish the special prosecutor’s office and stop sending military aid to Ukraine, as well as with the alleged harassment of the media.
Fico is now in his fourth term as prime minister. However, he soured relations with Ukraine after the outbreak of the war in 2022.
