31 May 2024

Recovering Slovak PM moved to capital after shooting

1:57 pm on 31 May 2024
(FILES) Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks during a press conference with the German Chancellor at the Chancellery in Berlin on January 24, 2024. Slovakia's PM has been shot on May 15, 2024, after a government meeting and taken to hospital: according to local media reports. (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP)

Robert Fico. Photo: AFP

By Robert Greenall for BBC News

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has been moved out of a hospital in the centre of the country, two weeks after being seriously wounded in a shooting.

He was transported from the city of Banska Bystrica to continue his recovery in the capital Bratislava, according to media reports.

The 59-year-old was left fighting for his life after being shot four times at close range in the central town of Handlova on 15 May as he greeted supporters after a government meeting.

Fico is said to have undergone a number of operations.

It is not clear whether he has been discharged to his apartment in Bratislava or transferred to another hospital.

The veteran politician, who has served as prime minister for more than 10 of the last 18 years, returned to power last September at the head of a populist-nationalist coalition.

Slovakia has become increasingly polarised in recent months, and the attack has only deepened tensions.

His alleged assailant, named by local media as 71-year-old Juraj Cintula, has been remanded in custody charged with attempted murder.

- BBC News

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