Slovak Interior Minister Matusz Štaj Istok confirms, according to Reuters, that there was an assassination attempt against the Prime Minister.

It is said that four shots were fired. Fico was shot several times and has life-threatening injuries, they wrote on his official Facebook page.

According to TA3, Fico was shot in the abdomen. He was conscious when he was taken to the hospital.

The accident occurred in the town of Handlova, about 150 kilometers northeast of the capital, Bratislava, according to TA3 TV channel.

Reuters wrote that the shooting occurred in front of a local cultural center after a government meeting in the city. Fico is said to have been in the city to meet his supporters.

An eyewitness said they heard several gunshots, and said the police arrested a man. The police also allegedly pushed someone into a car and drove off.

Fiko is now being transferred by helicopter from the hospital in Handlova to Banska.

Fiko served as Prime Minister of Slovakia for four terms, and is the leader of the Social Democratic Party Smir, which means directing.

Although he has a social democratic background, Fico is considered a populist leader. He is skeptical about arms aid to Ukraine and still wants some cooperation with Russia.

In 2018, Fico resigned as the country's prime minister after a crisis of confidence, when journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée were murdered.

Condemns the attack

Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Lubos Blaha confirmed to Slovak news agency TASR that Fico had been shot. He made this information at a meeting of the National Assembly on Wednesday and then boycotted the meeting.

A large number of European leaders reacted strongly after the incident.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Sture says he is deeply shocked by the attack.

– I condemn this act of violence in the strongest possible terms, Støre wrote on X.

The President of Slovakia, Zuzana Čaputová, condemned what she described as a brutal and reckless attack on the Prime Minister.

– I am shocked. She wrote on Facebook: I wish Robert Fico a lot of strength in this critical moment to recover from the attack.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg wrote on X that he was also shocked and shaken. He wishes Fico a speedy recovery.

– My thoughts are with Robert Fico, his relatives and the people of Slovakia.

European Union President Ursula von der Leyen described the attack as abhorrent.

– Such acts of violence have no place in our society, and undermine democracy, she wrote in X.

Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, was also shocked by the attack on his colleague.

“My thoughts are with him and his family,” he writes on X.