Authorities have charged a man in connection with the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Robert Fico who was shot on Wednesday, the country's interior minister said. "The attempt on Fico's life was politically motivated", Slovakia's Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said during a news conference of the Slovak security on the shooting of Prime Minister Robert Fico. Estok said the suspect, believed to be 71, was a "lone wolf" and did not belong to any political party, but had previously taken part in anti-government protests. Slovakia's prime minister is no longer in a life-threatening condition after being shot multiple times at point-blank range, according to his deputy prime minister. However, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Robert Kalinak said on Thursday that Fico is "not out of the woods yet" as he continues to recover in hospital. "[His] condition remains serious and the medical team at the FD Roosevelt University Hospital are performing their best to move towards a positive prognosis," he said during a news conference in Bratislava. "Unfortunately, I cannot report I have good news because the extent of the injuries sustained is so extensive that the body's response will be very difficult in the days to come." Kalinak also called the assassination attempt on Fico "premeditated". The populist leader had been attending a political event in the small town of Handlova when the shooting took place, sending shockwaves through the central European country. It comes just weeks before the European elections. The gunman fired five shots at close range and Fico was hit in the stomach and in the arm. The attack took place outside a cultural centre in the town of Handlova, nearly 140 kilometres northeast of the capital, Bratislava, government officials said. 59-year-old Fico was shot while attending a meeting of his government in the town of 16,000, once a center of coal mining. Fico is a politically contentious character in Slovakia and rose to prominence on a pro-Russian and anti-US message. In January, he halted aid to Ukraine. He has previously expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and is currently pushing for a contentious reform of Slovakia's public radio and television services. Critics worry that he will lead Slovakia — a nation of 5.4 million that is a part of NATO — to abandon its pro-Western course and follow in the footsteps of Hungary under populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was quick to react to the news of the shooting on X. "I strongly condemn the vile attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico. Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good." — Euronews
