Juraj Chintula was arrested at the scene of the shooting. Photo: Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters
A suspected “lone wolf” bandit has been arrested and charged with the attempted murder of Robert Fico, the Slovakian prime minister, who was described as escaping death by a “hair's breadth”.
Juraj Chintula, 71, was arrested at the scene after Mr Fico, a supporter of the Russian populist, was shot five times as he greeted a crowd in the western town of Handlova.
On Thursday morning, doctors described the prime minister's condition as stable, but his deputy Tomas Taraba warned that he was “not yet out of the crisis.”
Deep divisions in Slovak society are being blamed for the attack. between pro-Western, pro-Russian and anti-NATO sides, but Slovakia's Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said Mr Chintula was a “lone wolf” and did not belong to any political groups.
Mr Fico fought for his life for hours and underwent emergency stomach surgery after being airlifted to hospital.
His condition stabilized overnight but was still in condition on Thursday morning was described as “very serious”. He was reported to have regained consciousness after surgery.
“The medical team was able to improve the prime minister's condition, but he has not yet recovered,” Mr. Taraba said.
He told the BBC on Wednesday evening: “I was very shocked… fortunately, as far as I know, the operation went well and I think he will survive in the end. He is not in a life-threatening situation at the moment.”
Zuzana Caputova, Slovakia's president, said the heads of all political parties would meet to seek “calm” after the shooting. He added that Fico managed to avoid death “by a thread.”
Mr Chintula, a poet from the western town of Levice, has publicly expressed his dislike of Fico and his anger at Russia's invasion of Ukraine. /> Juraj Chintula has publicly expressed his dislike of Mr Fico and his anger at Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Photo: Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters < p>Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a telegram to Ms Caputova on Wednesday after the shooting.
“I was outraged to learn about the assassination attempt on the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, Robert Fico. There can be no justification for this monstrous crime,” Putin wrote.
“I know Robert Fico as a brave and strong-willed person. I really hope that these qualities will help him survive this difficult situation.”
On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Izvestia newspaper: “Naturally, we condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms.
“We consider this absolutely unacceptable – this is truly a great tragedy. We hope that Mr. Fico can recover as soon as possible. We wish him a speedy recovery.”
On Wednesday, Russian politicians said the shooter was an assassin, Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Duma's foreign affairs committee. said: “There is a high probability that they wanted to kill Fico because of his political views, which do not fit into the stereotypes of the hegemony of the collective West.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday condemned the attack as “horrible,” saying: “We sincerely hope that Robert Fico will recover soon and express our solidarity with the people of Slovakia.”
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