Brussels 15.05.2024 Today Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, 59, is in a hospital, transported by helicopter after an assassination attempt.

(Image above: social media)

The shooting took place after an off-site government meeting in the central Slovak town of Handlova. The suspected gunman was among a small crowd of onlookers waiting to greet the Prime minister on the street outside the cultural center, where the meeting was taking place, local media reported.

Footage from the scene shows the injured Prime minister being moved into a vehicle by his security agents. Fico was taken to a local hospital and then transferred by helicopter to a major trauma center about 30 kilometers away in Banska Bystrica.

A statement posted on Fico’s official Facebook page and his party’s website called the attack “an asassination attempt.”

“He was shot multiple times and is currently in a life-threatening condition. The next few hours will be decisive,” according to the statement.

No one else was injured in the attack, according to Slovak Labor Minister Erik Tomáš.

The assassination attempt suspect on Slovakia’s prime minister Robert Fico has been identified as Slovak writer Juraj Cintula, a liberal writer and activist.

Fico is reportedly in the hospital in a “life-threatening” condition, reads the information released by the government. According to reports, Cintula is 71 years old, is a well-known writer, and is a member of the Progressive party in Slovakia. PM Fico’s condition is not promising. A post to his Facebook account says the “next few hours” will determine his fate.