Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico remains in hospital after he was shot multiple times in an assassination attempt on Wednesday.

Slovakia’s Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák said that Fico had been in surgery for over three hours and was in an “extraordinarily serious” condition last night.

Slovakia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tomáš Taraba told the BBC that the 59-year-old’s surgery had gone well.

“He’s not in a life threatening situation at this moment,” he said.

The Prime Minister was greeting people in front of a community centre in Handlova after a government meeting before the attack occurred.

Footage showed a man firing a gun five times at Fico before he was restrained by bodyguards. The Prime Minister was rushed to his car and taken to emergency services.

The man arrested at the scene was 71-year-old poet and political activist, Juraj Cintula, a political activist who has spoken on social media of wanting to perform a political protest.

Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok said that the reasons behind the assassination attempt “clearly points to a political motivation”.

The attack has been condemned by Slovakia’s President Zuzana Čaputová.

“Violence is absolutely unacceptable. Hate speech and rhetoric full of hate, which we witness across society, leads to hateful acts. Please, let us stop this.”

The shooting comes three weeks before European parliament elections which has also resulted in physical attacks of German, Spanish and Irish politicians.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that the assassination attempt risks fuelling more attacks.

“Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good,” she said.

Fico returned as Prime Minister in Slovakia after elections held in September last year. The policies of his coalition have been divisive, including halting military support to Ukraine and campaigning against LGBTQ+ rights.

Photo: Robert Fico by Annika Haas is available HERE and is used under a Creative Commons Licence. This image has not been modified