1 hour agoVideo caption, Slovak high minister preventing for his existence after shootingSlovak High Minister Robert Fico is now not in a life-threatening situation after being shot a number of instances, the deputy high minister has mentioned.Tomas Taraba advised the BBC Mr Fico’s surgical operation had long past “neatly” and “I suppose that on the finish he’ll live to tell the tale”.Previous the defence minister mentioned Mr Fico was once “preventing for his existence” after being gravely injured in an assault within the small the city of Handlova.A suspect was once detained on the scene of the taking pictures.Inner Minister Matus Sutaj Estoka described it as a politically motivated assassination try.Following the taking pictures, Mr Fico was once rushed to medical institution and spent a number of hours in surgical operation “preventing for his existence”, in line with Defence Minister Robert Kalinak, who spoke at a information convention from out of doors the medical institution the place Mr Fico was once being handled on Wednesday.There was no authentic replace at the high minister’s situation since then, however his second-in-command has since advised the BBC’s Newshour programme that Mr Fico was once “no longer in [a] life-threatening state of affairs at this second”.”So far as I do know, the operation went neatly and I suppose that on the finish he’ll live to tell the tale,” Mr Taraba mentioned.Mr Taraba added that the high minister was once shot “from very shut” and that “one bullet went during the abdomen and the second hit the joint”. Symbol supply, Getty ImagesImage caption, Slovakia’s high minister was once airlifted to a medical institution in Banska Bystrica and underwent a number of hours of surgeryPolice have no longer but known the alleged suspect. Unconfirmed native media experiences say he was once a 71-year-old author and political activist.A video being broadly circulated on Slovak media purports to function the suspect.Within the pictures, the person says he disagrees with govt coverage and its stance in opposition to state media. The BBC does no longer know if the individual within the video is the offender who was once detained on the scene nor the instances beneath which it was once filmed.The taking pictures got here at the day parliament started discussing the federal government’s proposal to abolish Slovakia’s public broadcaster RTVS.Hundreds of Slovaks have protested towards the proposed reform of the general public broadcaster in fresh weeks. Then again, a deliberate opposition-led demonstration was once known as off on Wednesday as information of the taking pictures emerged.In his interview with the BBC, Deputy High Minister Taraba blamed “false narratives” by way of opposition events in Slovakia for the taking pictures. “Our high minister a number of instances discussed up to now that he was once afraid that this is able to occur,” Mr Taraba mentioned in any other interview with the BBC’s International This night programme. In keeping with him, Mr Fico had warned that the way in which during which “the federal government was once attacked by way of false narratives can overheat the response of other folks and result in one thing like this”.Parliament was once sitting on the time of the assault and Slovak media reported {that a} birthday celebration colleague of Mr Fico’s shouted at opposition MPs, accusing them of stoking the assault.And Inner Minister Mr Estok accused the media of contributing to the local weather that ended in the 59-year-old’s taking pictures, telling a press convention: “Lots of you had been those that had been sowing this hatred.”Mr Estok added that he believed “this assassination [attempt] was once politically motivated”.Reacting to information of the assault, Slovakia’s outgoing President Zuzana Caputova mentioned one thing “so critical had came about that we will’t even realise it but”.”The hateful rhetoric we witness in society results in hateful acts,” she added.Mr Fico returned to energy in Slovakia after elections closing September, as the pinnacle of a populist-nationalist coalition. His first few months as high minister have proved extremely contentious politically. In January he halted army assist to Ukraine and closing month driven via plans to abolish RTVS.
