Slovakia PM Robert Fico not in life-threatening condition - deputy PM

The deputy prime minister has given an update that Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's condition is no longer critical, following an attack where he was shot multiple times.

According to Tomas Taraba's statement to the BBC, Mr. Fico's operation was successful and he believes Mr. Fico will make a full recovery.

Previously, the defence minister expressed that Mr Fico was in a critical condition and struggling to survive following an assault that took place in the modest municipality of Handlova.

Someone believed to be involved in the shooting was arrested when the incident took place.

The Ministry of Interior's Matus Sutaj Estoka claimed that the incident was an assassination attempt with political motives.

After the attack, Mr Fico was immediately taken to the hospital and underwent a critical surgery that lasted for several hours in order to save his life. This information was conveyed by Defence Minister Robert Kalinak during a press conference held outside the hospital where Mr Fico was receiving medical treatment on Wednesday.

We haven't received any formal news about the state of the prime minister's health lately, but his deputy has shared with the Newshour show on BBC that Mr Fico's current condition is not critical and he is not in danger at the moment.

To the best of my knowledge, the procedure was successful and I anticipate that he will pull through in the end," expressed Mr Taraba.

According to Mr Taraba, the prime minister was shot at close proximity. The first bullet penetrated the stomach and the second bullet struck his joint.

The supposed perpetrator has not been recognized by law enforcement officials. Local media sources that have not been verified reported he was a 71-year-old individual involved in writing and political activism.

A clip that is being shared across various Slovakian media platforms claims to show the individual who is under suspicion.

The man in the clip expressed his disagreement with the policies set by the government and their attitude towards the media owned by the state. It is unclear to the BBC whether the individual seen in the video is the one who was apprehended or what led to the recording.

On the day that members of parliament began deliberating on the government's plan to eliminate Slovakia's public broadcaster RTVS, a shooting incident occurred.

In the past few weeks, a large number of people from Slovakia have gathered together to express their disagreement with the proposed changes to the public broadcaster. Despite this, the opposition decided to cancel a protest they had intended to lead on Wednesday after hearing about news of a shooting.

During his conversation with the BBC, Taraba, who holds the position of Deputy Prime Minister, claimed that opposition parties in Slovakia were responsible for spreading "untrue stories" about the shooting incident.

During a separate conversation with the BBC's World Tonight show, Mr. Taraba stated that the Prime Minister had previously expressed concerns about the occurrence of this event.

He said that Mr. Fico had cautioned against the danger of false accounts targeting the government, which could intensify the public's response and result in incidents similar to this one.

During the attack, the Parliament was in session and according to Slovak media reports, a fellow member of Mr. Fico's party yelled at opposing MPs, blaming them for instigating the attack.

The Interior Minister, Mr. Estok, claimed that the media played a role in creating the conditions that led to the 59-year-old's shooting. During a press conference, he blamed the media for spreading animosity and said, "A lot of you were responsible for cultivating this hostility."

According to Mr Estok, he thinks that the attack was carried out because of political reasons.

In response to the news about the attack, Slovakia's departing President Zuzana Caputova made a statement indicating that the situation was extremely grave and its full impact may not be comprehended immediately.

She went on to say that the negative language we see in our communities results in negative deeds.

Last September, Mr Fico regained his power as the leader of a coalition that supports populist and nationalist ideas in Slovakia. However, his recent months as the country's prime minister have been highly controversial in terms of politics. To cite some examples, he suspended military support to Ukraine in January and recently enforced measures to eliminate RTVS.