Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was injured in an attack on Wednesday, according to the country’s president.
Local media reported that Fico, a veteran politician, had been shot and wounded in the central Slovak town of Handlova, where he had been meeting his supporters.
President Zuzana Caputova, whose pro-Western stance has put her at odds with Fico, condemned what she described as a “brutal and reckless attack.”
“I’m in shock,” he wrote in a message on Facebook. “I wish Robert Fico a lot of strength at this critical time as he recovers from the attack.”
The extent of Mr. Fico’s injuries was not immediately known. There was no immediate comment from the prime minister’s office or police.
Footage from the scene published by Reuters news agency showed what appeared to be members of Fico’s security team running around a black sedan. Other images showed a person handcuffed on the ground at the scene.
Caputova, whose term ends in June, has used her limited powers to resist Fico’s drift toward Russia and his efforts to limit the judiciary’s ability to prosecute corruption.
Fico has aligned himself with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in opposing aid to Ukraine and challenging dominant views within the European Union.
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president who has clashed with Fico in the past, said she strongly condemned the “vile attack.”
“These acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good,” he said. wrote on social media.
Fico, who ended a previous stint as prime minister by resigning in 2018 amid an avalanche of corruption allegations, has also followed Orban in seeking to neutralize his country’s judiciary and in introducing Ukraine supporters as disloyal lackeys of the United States.
Fico returned to power after September’s general election, reviving a political career that many had considered over when he resigned amid large street protests following the murder of an investigative journalist who had been investigating government corruption.