Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico is expected to recover after he was shot many times Wednesday, according to officials.
“I guess in the end he will survive,” Deputy Prime Minister Tomas Taraba told reporters, according to The Associated Press, adding, “He’s not in a life-threatening situation at this moment.”
Fico was shot Wednesday after holding a Cabinet meeting in the Trenčín region of central Slovakia, per local media outlet TASR. The AP reported that he was struck in the abdomen and doctors worked to keep him alive in the hours after the shooting.
A 71-year-old man was detained in relation to the incident according to Slovak news outlet Dennik N, which also reported that the suspect used a legally purchased gun.
Slovakian President Peter Pellegrini claimed the shooting was an “assassination attempt.”
“An assassination attempt on one of the highest constitutional officials is an unprecedented threat to Slovak democracy,” Pellegrini said on the social platform X. “If we express different political opinions with guns in the squares, and not in polling stations, we endanger everything we have built together in 31 years of Slovak sovereignty.”
Following the news, President Biden said he was “alarmed” to hear of the shooting.
“We condemn this horrific act of violence,” Biden said in a statement. “Our embassy is in close touch with the government of Slovakia and ready to assist.”
Fico is Slovakia’s longest-serving prime minister, having served in the role from 2006-2010 and 2012-2018. He came back to power last year, according to the AP, on a pro-Russian and anti-American message, which resulted in more expansive worries from other European Union members that he would pull his country farther from the West.
The Associated Press contributed.
