Slovak PM Fico in hospital after being shot
Source: BBC
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has been shot and wounded, according to local media reports.Mr Fico was shot in front of a cultural community centre in the town of Handlova, where a government meeting had been held, reports say.
Several shots were heard, according to journalists on the scene.
The Slovak leader has been taken to hospital and his alleged assailant detained by police.
Handlova is around 180km (112 miles) north-east of the capital Bratislava. A video showed several men rushing to detain the suspect just outside the cultural centre in Handlova. The BBC has not yet verified the footage.
Mr Fico returned to power in Slovakia after elections last September, at the head of a populist-nationalist coalition.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg6761ggxz1o.amp
riversedge
(72,237 posts)Looks like NO ambulance.
⚡️WATCH: The first footage after the shootout in #Slovakia.
Prime Minister #Fico is being seated in a car after the assassination attempt.
Link to tweet
muriel_volestrangler
(102,195 posts)riversedge
(72,237 posts)brooklynite
(96,882 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(50,414 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(102,195 posts)Doesn't tell us much, but somehow you don't expect a 71 year old to resort to this.
Torchlight
(4,186 posts)I don't think anyone would guess his age the first time, or even within ten years of it.
From his age and nothing else, I'd guess this was a measured, calculated, long-debated act, regardless of motive.
wolfie001
(3,217 posts)He's vehemently anti-gay. Calls it a "perversion" and he'll "never accept it". May have been tied to a journalist's assassination, is a very pro-Putin type. The assailant may have many memories of the brutal Soviet occupation.
Warpy
(112,945 posts)and Slovakia hasn't been free long enough to trust elections. My best guess says that had he not been shot, he'd have faced a no confidence vote sooner rather than later. Now he won't. Thanks a lot, gun toting asshole.
He has kept aid to Ukraine going. He might be a RW nutjob, but he does know what the real threat to the region is..
orangecrush
(21,120 posts)"Ficos government, upon coming to power in September, immediately halted arms deliveries to Ukraine, prompting nationwide protests against its pro-Russian stance and several other policies."
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/5/15/ukraine-withdraws-troops-from-kharkiv-as-russia-pushes-deeper-into-region
Happy Hoosier
(8,229 posts)... not that I'm advocating political violence against an elected leader. To be clear, I am not.
Also not shedding a tear that this Putin stooge might croak.
orangecrush
(21,120 posts)Apparently sucking up to Putin can be hazardous to your health.
orangecrush
(21,120 posts)?si=gJ1uABCWMmR3LFLE
BeyondGeography
(39,907 posts)Great interview with MP Marcinkova. Tense times all around.
orangecrush
(21,120 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(102,195 posts)Taraba told the BBC Fico is is no longer in a life threatening situation.
He said: Fortunately as far as I know the operation went well - and I guess in the end he will survive. hes not in a life threatening situation at this moment.
Taraba added: He was heavily injured - one bullet went thought the stomach and the second one hit the joint - immediately he was transported to the hospital and then to the operation.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/may/15/georgia-protest-foreign-agents-bill-demonstrations-tbilisi-latest-live-news?CMP=share_btn_url&page=with%3Ablock-66451ff98f08350201111d98#block-66451ff98f08350201111d98
blue-wave
(4,488 posts)Warthog defense video with claims that the assailant has connections with a group loyal to Russia.