Slovak PM Fico out of danger, condition serious: deputy
STORY: ::Banska Bystrica, Slovakia
:: May 19, 2024
:: Robert Kalinak, Slovak Deputy Prime Minister
"So we are all a bit calmer because when we talked about wanting to approach a positive prognosis, I think we are a step closer to it."
"The Prime Minister has stepped out of the shadow of immediate life threat, but his condition remains serious and still requires intensive medical care, so certainly in the near future, as I said yesterday, no transport will be planned because it is not even possible."
Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak gave the media an update at a news conference outside the hospital where Fico is being treated in the central Slovak town of Banska Bystrica.
The prime minister, 59, was hit by four bullets on Wednesday (May 15) in an attack that raised alarm over the polarized state of politics in the central European country of 5.4 million people.
The shooting was the first major assassination attempt on a European political leader for more than 20 years, and has drawn international condemnation. Political analysts and lawmakers say it has exposed an increasingly febrile and polarized political climate both in Slovakia and across Europe.
