(Reuters) – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is improving after an assassination attempt earlier this month, the government and hospital said on Monday.
On May 15, an assailant shot Fico at close range, firing four shots at him as he was addressing supporters at a government meeting in the town of Handlova in central Slovakia.
Fico, 59, was shot in the abdomen and taken to hospital in the regional capital, Banská Bystrica, in a critical condition, where he immediately underwent more than five hours of surgery and then again two days later.
FD Roosevelt University Hospital said in its daily update that his condition was improving, and tests on Monday confirmed that.
“Based on the test results, today's medical board confirmed that the prime minister's health condition is gradually improving,” the government said, without providing further details.
The attack was the first major assassination attempt on a European political leader in more than two decades and highlighted deep political divisions in Slovak society.
Police arrested the attacker on the spot, and prosecutors charged him, later identified as Juraj C., with premeditated murder, and a court ordered him detained.
According to court documents, the 71-year-old man told the court he wanted to injure, not kill, the Slovak prime minister because he opposed government policies, and that he used a gun he had owned for more than 30 years.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka in Prague; Editing by William MacLean)
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