Slovakian Prime Minister, Robert Fico, was seriously injured in a targeted shooting on Wednesday. Despite the severity of the attack, Deputy Prime Minister Tomas Taraba expressed confidence that Fico would survive.

The attempted assassination occurred while Fico was greeting supporters at an event, sending shockwaves through the small nation and reverberating across Europe just weeks before an upcoming election. “I guess in the end he will survive,” Taraba told the BBC, adding, “He’s not in a life-threatening situation at this moment.”

Fico, a 59-year-old pro-Russian leader, was struck in the abdomen. Defense Minister Robert Kalinak informed reporters that doctors were working tirelessly to save his life at the hospital where he was being treated.

The incident took place outside a cultural center in Handlova, a town of 16,000 people located nearly 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital, Bratislava. Fico was attending a government meeting there when the shooting occurred. Government officials reported that five shots were fired.

A suspect is in custody, and Interior Minister Matus Sutaj-Estok stated that an initial investigation indicated a “clear political motivation” behind the assassination attempt.

Fico returned to power last year with a pro-Russian, anti-American platform. His leadership has raised concerns among European Union members that Slovakia might drift further from the Western mainstream. In his fourth term as prime minister, Fico’s government halted arms deliveries to Ukraine, stirring worries about Slovakia’s commitment to its NATO allies.

The attack has intensified an already tense political climate. Thousands have protested against Fico’s policies in the capital and across Slovakia. Following the shooting, a message on Fico’s Facebook account indicated he was taken to a hospital in Banská Bystrica, 29 kilometers (17 miles) from Handlova, due to the urgency of his condition.

The assassination attempt has overshadowed political campaigning three weeks ahead of European Parliament elections, raising concerns that populist and nationalist factions similar to Fico’s could gain ground in the 27-member bloc.

President Zuzana Caputova, a political rival of Fico, condemned the attack, stating, “A physical attack on the prime minister is, first of all, an attack on a person, but it is also an attack on democracy.” She urged for a halt to the hateful rhetoric that has been pervasive in society.

President-elect Peter Pellegrini, an ally of Fico, called the shooting an “unprecedented threat to Slovak democracy,” warning against resolving political differences with violence.

The recent elections that returned Fico to power have highlighted deep societal divisions, exacerbated by the ongoing war in Ukraine. Gábor Czímer, a political journalist, noted that Slovak society is deeply split, with factions supporting either Russia or stronger EU ties. “At the same time, I couldn’t imagine that it would lead to physical violence,” Czímer remarked.

Interior Minister Estok emphasized the country’s precarious situation, stating, “We are on the edge of a civil war” due to the political tension. He urged an immediate stop to the hateful comments circulating on social media.

International leaders have condemned the attack. U.S. President Joe Biden decried the violence, calling it a “horrific act.” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg expressed shock and dismay, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described it as a “vile attack.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also condemned the violence, urging that it must not become normalized.

In response to the attack, Slovakia’s Parliament has been adjourned until further notice. Opposition parties, Progressive Slovakia and Freedom and Solidarity, cancelled a planned protest against a controversial government plan to overhaul public broadcasting, which critics argue would place media under government control. Progressive Slovakia leader Michal Simecka called for restraint from all politicians to prevent further escalation of tensions.

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