Slovakia Prime Minister Fico shot and injured

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was injured in a shooting after a government meeting, news agency TASR reported on Wednesday.

International: Slovakia Prime Minister Fico shot and injured. TASR cited parliament’s vice-chairman Lubos Blaha as saying Fico was shot and injured.

A Reuters witness said he heard several shots and that he saw a man being detained by police. The Reuters witness said he saw security officials pushing someone into a car and driving off.

The government office could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Slovakia is known for its cultural heritage, diverse landscapes, and a growing economy within the European Union.

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PRAGUE (AP) — Slovakia’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico, was shot multiple times and gravely wounded Wednesday after a political event in an attempted assassination that shocked the small country and reverberated across Europe.

The pro-Russian leader, 59, was reported to be fighting for his life after being hit in the stomach. At least four shots were fired outside a cultural center in the town of Handlova, nearly 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital, where Fico was meeting with supporters, the government said.

A suspect was in custody, the country’s president said in a televised statement. Fico was taken by helicopter to a hospital.

The motive for the shooting was unclear.

Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond, but his return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American message led to even greater worries among fellow European Union members that he would lead his country further from the Western mainstream.

His government halted arms deliveries to Ukraine, and critics worry that he will lead Slovakia — a nation of 5.4 million that belongs to NATO — to abandon its pro-Western course and follow in the footsteps of Hungary under populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.