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By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
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Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico, who was shot following a Cabinet meeting, is considered a divisive figure who raised concerns in European capitals when he was reelected leader of the NATO member last year
Unverified video footage shows the dramatic moments when Fico is bundled into his car by his security detail on Wednesday while the alleged assailant was held down by police in Handlova, around 120 miles northeast of the capital Bratislava.
Local reports say Fico was then airlifted by helicopter to a hospital in the city of Banska Bystrica following what a Slovakian interior ministry spokesman confirmed was an assassination attempt that left Fico in a "life-threatening" condition.
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The 59-year old had already been prime minister twice before the election on September 30 last year when the Direction - Social Democracy (Smer-SSD) party he founded took 23 percent of the votes. It allowed him to head a populist-nationalist coalition with Voice – Social Democracy (HLAS) and the Slovak National Party.
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Having served previously between 2006 and 2010 and from 2012 to 2018, Fico is the longest serving-prime minister in his country's history but stepped down following the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak in 2018.
Some of Fico's allies, including intelligence officers and an ex-police chief, have been accused of corruption and last year he was charged with leading a "criminal organization" that controlled the police, which he denied. The case was dropped.
The Economist reported that the main reason he wanted to return to power was to avoid prosecution, according to an unnamed former close associate cited by the publication.
His comments on the campaign trail about cutting Bratislava's support for Ukraine in fighting Russian aggression led to comparisons with Hungarian populist right-wing prime minister Viktor Orban, who is considered an ally of Vladimir Putin.
The Fico government has refused to join a Czech-led coalition of about 20 states in procuring military aid for Ukraine having come to power on a pledge to not provide any more ammunition for Kyiv.
Fico's efforts to stop assistance for Ukraine have caused tensions within the EU and NATO, although the Slovakian prime minister has described Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a "violation of international law."
In response to the shooting, Orban said he was "deeply shocked by the heinous attack against my friend," while other European leaders also condemned the assassination attempt. Slovakia's outgoing president, Zuzana Caputova, said the attack was "brutal and ruthless," while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said "such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy."
Newsweek has contacted the Slovakian foreign ministry for comment.
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