Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico Expected To Survive After Shooting

Fico was elected last year and opposes the NATO proxy war in Ukraine

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times on Wednesday in an assassination attempt after a government meeting in the central city of Handlova. He is in grave condition but is expected to survive, according to his deputy prime minister.

“I guess in the end he will survive,” Deputy Prime Minister Tomas Taraba told the BBC. “He’s not in a life-threatening situation at this moment.”

Earlier, Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kalina spoke with reporters outside of the hospital where Fico is being treated and said the prime minister was “fighting for his life” and underwent three and a half hours of surgery. “We are hoping that he is strong enough to make it,” Kalina said.

Fico, who is 59 years old, was shot while greeting a crowd. Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said a 71-year-old man was detained for the shooting and that the initial investigation found “a clear political motivation.”

Fico and his Smer-SD party won elections last year after campaigning on a platform against military aid to Ukraine and opposition to the NATO proxy war against Russia in general.

When he took office, Fico fulfilled his pledge to end military aid to Ukraine and blocked an arms package approved by the previous government. Slovakia had previously sent Ukraine Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets, making it the second NATO country after Poland to provide warplanes.

Fico has also been critical of other NATO countries signing bilateral security deals with Ukraine and discussing the idea of sending troops. “We see huge security risks in the bilateral agreements that are likely to be conducted soon with NATO and EU member states that want to send their troops to Ukraine,” he said in February.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.