President-elect of Slovakia Assassination Attempt, Badly Shot
The prime minister’s condition has stabilized, but he is “not out of a life-threatening situation,” Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak told a news conference. He said that doctors were doing everything they could to help him, but that “the recovery will be difficult.”
Reporting from Bratislava, Slovakia
When asked whether Fico was conscious, Kalinak said that the prime minister remained in serious condition and had a “limited” ability to communicate.
Reporting from Bratislava, Slovakia
The suspect has been charged with premeditated murder, according to Interior Minister Matus Sutaj-Estok, who is briefing the news media right now. He did not identify the suspect, but said he was a “lone wolf” who was “radicalized recently, after the presidential election” last month and had expressed antigovernment sentiment.
E.U. elections will take place across the bloc of 27 countries from June 6 to 9; Slovakia is set to vote June 8. The call to tone down or even temporarily pause campaigning in Slovakia so close to the election puts the E.U. in unknown territory: Who will decide when campaigning resumes? Will voting go ahead as scheduled, and what does that mean for the E.U.-wide elections?
Reporting from Bratislava, Slovakia
The Slovak authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the attack and an inquiry into the response of security officials at the scene, according to Andrea Dobiasova, a spokeswoman for the country’s Inspection Service Office, which is part of the police force.
Comments