The populist prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, was injured in a shooting Wednesday.
The country’s president confirmed the attack shortly after the news broke.
« Utterly shocked by today’s brutal and reckless attack on #Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico, which I condemn in strongest possible terms, » Zuzana Čaputová said in a message on X. « I wish him lot of strength in this critical moment and early recovery. My thoughts are also with his family and close ones, » she added.
Lubos Blaha, vice-chairman of the central European country’s parliament, said that Fico was shot and injured, according to Slovak news agency TASR.
A TASR reporter said that several shots were fired in the town of Handlova, about 110 miles northeast of the capital Bratislava.
Fico was greeting members of the public after a government meeting, the news agency reported.
NBC News has not independently verified the reports.
Photos on news agencies showed a man appearing to be detained in Handlova.
Fico was elected in October last year as leader of the leftist Smer party, meaning direction, standing on a pro-Russian and anti-American populist platform.
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