As Slovakian prime minister Robert Fico recovers from surgery having been shot five times at close range, critics of his ruling party are worried the attack could be used to widen the political faultlines in a country that has been on edge for months.
Mr Fico’s condition is stable but “serious” according to hospital officials, while a suspect has been charged with attempted murder and could face life imprisonment. Miriam Lapunikova, director of the University FD Roosevelt hospital in Banska Bystrica, where Mr Fico was taken by helicopter after he was shot, said he underwent a CT scan and is currently awake and stable in an intensive care unit. She described his condition as “very serious”.
