They manage to stabilize him although he remains “very serious”

The prime minister of Slovakia, the left-wing populist Robert Fico, has regained consciousness although his health status remains critical a day after suffering an attack that has shocked the country’s society, plunged into a tense atmosphere of growing political polarization.

“The head of government narrowly escaped deathbecause if the bullets had ended up a few centimeters from where they did, we would be talking about different things,” said the country’s president-elect today, Peter Pellegriniafter visiting Fico in the hospital in the city of Banská Bystrica.

Fico was shot on Wednesday after a meeting with his cabinet in the Slovak town of Handlová, by a 71 year old man which in the past had links with ultranationalist groups and that he justified his attack by saying that he does not like the Government’s policies. The head of Government was on his way to greet a group of citizens who were waiting for him behind a fence when the alleged attacker shot him five shots.

Fico was taken to the hospital in the city of Banská Bystrica, where he underwent a complicated surgical interventionexecuted for five hours by two teams of doctors, to treat the serious gunshot wounds he suffered in the abdomen and extremities.

“During the night the doctors were able to stabilize the patient’s condition,” said Defense Minister Robert Kalinak in an appearance with the director of the clinic, Miriam Lapuníková. “He had numerous gunshot wounds. At this time your status It is stabilized, but it is really very serious“said Lapuníková, quoted by the newspaper Denník N.

“I was allowed to speak with him for only a few minutes, because your state of health really requires peace of mind“said the future head of state after explaining that the situation, very critical, did not allow political issues to be addressed. “Difficult hours and days lie ahead for the head of the Government”he asserted.

Red line in tense environment

Pellegrini referred to the attack as an assassination attempt that crossed a “red line”in the midst of the growing political polarization of society.

Hours before, he had summoned, together with the outgoing president, the liberal Zuzana Caputova, the leaders of all the parliamentary forces to a meeting “to calm the situation and reject violence”.

“We want to urge everyone to have a responsible attitude and to let’s get out of the vicious circle of hatred and mutual accusationsbecause what happened is an individual act, but the tense atmosphere of hatred is our common work,” Caputova said.

The head of state, who will be replaced next month by Pellegrini, described the crime as “a great human tragedy and an attack on the democratic order”.