Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is stabilized but very seriousafter being operated on for five hours for gunshot wounds after the assassination attempt which he suffered on Wednesday, as reported this Thursday by the hospital where he is admitted. “The patient had numerous gunshot wounds, which must be regenerated. At this moment his condition is stabilized, but it is really very serious,” said the hospital director, Miriam Lapuníková.

Fico was operated by two teams, one surgical and another traumatology, of the multiple injuries he suffered, as detailed by Lapuníková and reported in the newspaper ‘Denník N’. “In the course of the night doctors were able to stabilize the patient’s condition“said the Minister of Defense, Robert Kalinak, who appeared alongside the director of the center in the town of Banská Bystrica. The seriousness of the president’s condition is due, according to Kalinak, to “the wound complication suffered”.

Kalinak has announced that he will provide more information on the prime minister’s situation during the day. The Minister of Defense, one of Fico’s closest collaborators, has also indicated that a meeting of the State Security Council will be held this Thursday.

Not yet determined who will assume the powers of the head of the Government in this situation. For now, parliamentary activity has been canceled until Tuesday, when controversial bills highly criticized by the progressive and liberal opposition were pending voting. The day before, this opposition canceled a street protest against the abolition of the public entity RTVS that is being processed in the Slovak Parliament at the initiative of the coalition government between left-wing and far-right nationalists.

Fico was shot yesterday in the city of Handlová by a 71-year-old man, who was arrested and claimed to be against government policies. “I do not agree with the Government’s policy. The RTVS is being attacked and many people are resigning,” the alleged shooter told the TA3 network. Juraj Cintulawhen he was taken to the police station to testify.

Several members of the Government have assured that the attack on Fico is political and have accused the opposition of heating up the atmosphere with their criticism. The highly polarized country has seen massive protests in recent weeks against controversial decisions by the left-nationalist and far-right government, such as the closure of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, which was investigating members of Fico’s party, and the plans to close the RTVS.