'Come here, Robo!' 71-year-old pensioner shoots Slovak Prime Minister Fico

Robert Fico, the head of the government of Slovakia, was wounded and evacuated to the hospital by helicopter. The shooter was detained. The prime minister remains in serious condition.

An unknown person shot Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico several times after the politician left the government meeting in the city of Gandlova.

Fico collapsed after the attack. He was sent to the Franklin Roosevelt Hospital in Banska Bystrica by helicopter.

Pluska publication reports that a total of five shots were fired. Fico was wounded in the stomach, chest and arm. The prime minister's life is believed to be out of danger, but his condition was estimated as serious.

The attacker shouted "Come here, Robo” before shooting. The attacker was arrested. According to preliminary information, the attacker is a 71-year-old pensioner from the city of Levice. The man used a short-barreled weapon, for which he had a permit. The motive for the attack remains unknown.

The Prosecutor General of Slovakia, Maros Zilinka, called the incident an attack on Slovak statehood. According to him, the attack came as a consequence of attempts to sow hostility in the Slovak society.

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova said that she strongly condemned the assassination attempt on Fico. She wished him a speedy recovery.

• Robert Fico is 59 years old. He first headed the Slovak government in 2016, but resigned two years later amid protests over the murder of the country's well-known journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee.
• In 2023, Fico's SMER party won the elections, allowing the politician to form a coalition government. He took part in the election race advertising inadmissibility of further escalation of the conflict in Ukraine. After the victory, Fico said that Slovakia would stop sending military equipment to Kyiv.