Watch: Moments after Slovak PM Robert Fico got shot in broad daylight

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and wounded in the abdomen after a government meeting on Wednesday, Slovak media reported.

After gunshots were heard, Police with the help of locals detained a man while security officials pushed the PM into a car and drove off, as seen in the video of the incident, taking rounds on Social media.

Slovak news agency TASR quoted parliamentary vice-chairman Lubos Blaha as saying Fico had been shot and hurt. Broadcaster TA3 reported four shots were fired, one hitting Fico, 59, in the abdomen.

BREAKING : Slovak PM Robert Fico taken to his car after being shot several times. He was later picked up by an ambulance helicopter and flown to a hospital. He is currently in serious condition. pic.twitter.com/xVTdBw6GWO

— Baba Banaras™ (@RealBababanaras) May 15, 2024

Emergency services said a helicopter had been sent for a 59-year-old man in Handlova after receiving information that he had been shot.

The Slovak government was meeting in Handlova, 190 km (118 miles) northeast of Bratislava, as part of a tour of the country’s regions after coming to power late last year.

Fico has recently been in the news for rejecting the Global Pandemic accord and denying to send more arms to Ukraine. He was reportedly receiving criticism for his authoritarian methods despite being the face of a coalition government.

Fico returned as prime minister of the central European country, which is a member of the European Union and NATO, for the fourth time last year after shifting political gears to appeal to a changing electorate.

During a three-decade career, Fico has moved between the pro-European mainstream and nationalistic positions opposed to European Union and U.S. policies. He has also shown a willingness to change course depending on public opinion or changed political realities.

Following the shooting, Slovakia’s biggest opposition party called off a planned protest against government public broadcaster reforms set for Wednesday evening.

With inputs from agencies