Prime Minister Robert Fico remains in serious condition but his life is no longer in danger, Slovak officials say.
The life of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is no longer in danger following an assassination attempt, according to Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak.
“He has overcome the immediate threat to his life, but his condition remains serious and requires intensive care,” Kalinak, Fico's closest political ally, told reporters on Sunday.
A gunman shot Fico several times last week in an attack that shocked everyone, and government officials had said his life was in danger.
The incident took place as the Slovak leader was greeting his supporters after a government meeting in the central town of Handlova.
Fico underwent a five-hour operation the same day he was shot, as well as a second operation on Friday at a hospital in the central city of Banska Bystrica.
“We can consider his condition stable with a positive prognosis,” Kalinak said outside the hospital, adding: “Now we all feel a little more relaxed.” Kalinak noted that Fico will remain in Banská Bystrica for the time being.
The shooting was the first major assassination attempt on a European political leader in more than 20 years.
The alleged gunman, identified by Slovak media as a 71-year-old poet and former security guard, has been charged with attempted premeditated murder and ordered detained in custody at a hearing on Saturday.
Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said authorities are investigating the possibility that the suspect may not have been a “lone wolf” as previously believed.
The attack raised alarm about the polarized state of politics in the central European country of 5.4 million people.
Fico, 59, took office in October after his centrist populist Smer party won the general election.
He is serving his fourth term as prime minister after campaigning on peace proposals between Russia and Slovakia's neighbor Ukraine and to stop military aid to kyiv, something his government has done.
According to Estok, the suspect was angry about the government's policy in Ukraine.
Fico leads a coalition made up of Smer, the centrist HLAS and the small nationalist party SNS.
Kalinak, the deputy prime minister, said the government would continue without Fico “according to the program he has outlined.”
Outgoing Slovak President Zuzana Caputova and her successor, Peter Pellegrini, a Fico ally who will take power in June, attempted to quell political tensions following last week's attack.
Following a proposal by Caputova and Pellegrini, several parties suspended the campaign for the European Parliament elections scheduled for June.
