Slovakia PM shooting live: Robert Fico in hospital after being shot - BBC News
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Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot in front of a building in the central Slovak town of Handlova.

We’ve just received reports that the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Rico has been taken to hospital after being shot. This is a developing news story, but here’s everything we know so far:

Slovak PM Robert Fico was shot and taken to hospital after a cabinet meeting. The alleged assailant was detained by police, local media reports

It not known what condition the prime minister is currently in

The shooting took place in Handlova, about 180km north east of the capital of Bratislava

Local journalists reported hearing several shots fired

Stay with us as we continue to cover this breaking news story.

edit: Initial information about the suspect has been released-

Police detained the suspect after Fico was shot in the central town of Handlova

The BBC’s local correspondent, Rob Cameron, says we’re hearing the attacker is 71 years old from a village in central Slovakia

The pistol the shots were fired from was reportedly legally held

The attacker’s motive is not yet known

A video shows civilians and guards detaining the suspect outside the cultural centre in Handlova The man, wearing a pale blue shirt, was then seen sitting on the ground, hands tied behind his back

  • happybadger [he/him]@hexbear.netOPEnglish
    28·
    7 months ago

    Their description of him:

    Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico returned to power after elections last September, at the head of a populist-nationalist coalition.

    He leads the populist left-wing Smer-SSD party and won the vote last October with pledges to halt military aid to Ukraine, but denied being pro-Russian.

    Fico was forced to step down as prime minister following the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak in 2018.

    “If Smer enters government, we will not send a single round of ammunition to Ukraine,” Fico told supporters during his campaign.

    This, as well as his pledge to resist Western sanctions on Russia, caused some onlookers to compare Fico to Hungary’s populist right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

    He was transported by air ambulance so it seems like a real doohickey of a situation:

    Helicopter dispatched to shooting incident

    Slovak’s emergency services dispatched a helicopter to a 59-year-old man in Handlova after receiving information that he was shot, it posted on social media.

    “The action is still under way”, the emergency service says.

    Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, 59, was initially bundled into a car by his security team, and local reports say he was then airlifted by helicopter to a nearby hospital.

    edit: Initial report of where he was shot-

    What do we know about Fico’s condition?

    Unconfirmed reports by eyewitnesses say Fico was shot in the arms, legs and stomach - but we have not been able to verify this.

    His bodyguards were seen helping him to a car soon after the shooting.

    Fico’s staff have since said he was airlifted to a nearby hospital as the transfer to the capital Bratislava would take too long and his condition is understood to be critical.

    Legs and abdomen are both catastrophic bleed sites. Likewise if he was hit in the shoulder.