The life of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is no longer in danger, Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak declared to the press this Sunday, May 19, four days after the attack on the head of government.
“There is no longer any immediate danger to his life, but his condition remains serious and he requires intensive care”said Mr. Kalinak, Mr. Fico’s closest political ally.
The Prime Minister has been hospitalized since Wednesday, when a man opened fire on him, hitting him several times, notably in the abdomen. He underwent a five-hour operation on Wednesday and a shorter one on Friday, both at a hospital in the town of Banska Bystrica in central Slovakia.
“We can consider that his condition is stable and that the prognosis is positive,” Mr. Kalinak said outside the hospital. “We all feel a little more relaxed now,” he added, specifying that Mr. Fico remained hospitalized for the moment.
The assailant, identified by Slovak media as 71-year-old poet Juraj Cintula, fired five shots at Robert Fico, hitting him four times.
He was presented on Saturday before the Pezinok criminal court northeast of Bratislava, which ordered him to remain in pre-trial detention.
Mr. Fico, 59, has held his post since his centrist party, Smer-SD, won legislative elections last fall.
He is serving his fourth term as prime minister after campaigning on peace proposals between Russia and Ukraine, a neighboring state of Slovakia, and on stopping military aid to kyiv, which his government subsequently implemented.
The assassination attempt deeply shocked Slovakia, a country of 5.4 million inhabitants, member of the European Union and NATO, which has been sharply divided politically for years.