PM Narendra Modi expresses shock over Slovak PM Robert Fico's shooting

PM Modi further said that India stands in solidarity with the people of Slovak Republic after PM Robert Fico was shot in an assassination attempt.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday condemned the attack on his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico, who was shot at in an assassination attempt during a political event on Wednesday. Modi expressed shock over the attack on Robert Fico, terming it as a “cowardly and dastardly act”.

PM Modi expressed his shock at the assassination attempt of Slovak PM Robert Fico.

In an X post, Modi said, "Deeply shocked at the news of the shooting at Slovakia's Prime Minister, H.E. Mr. Robert Fico. I strongly condemn this cowardly and dastardly act and wish PM Fico a speedy recovery. India stands in solidarity with the people of the Slovak Republic."

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.

The prime minister was greeting supporters at a political event when he was shot in an attempted assassination, sending shockwaves across Europe. Doctors fought for Fico's life several hours after the pro-Russian leader (59), was hit in the abdomen, Defence Minister Robert Kalina told reporters at the hospital where Fico was being treated.

The incident took place outside a cultural centre in the town of Handlova, and visuals from the event showed Robert Fico lying on the ground after five shots were fired. He was then seen being carried by his bodyguards into his vehicle, being rushed to the hospital.

Public RTVS television showed a stretcher taken out of a helicopter by medics and wheeled into the hospital in Banska Bystrica surrounded by security guards. A cover was over the stretcher.

A suspect was in custody, and an initial investigation found “a clear political motivation” behind the assassination attempt, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said as he briefed reporters alongside the defence minister.

As per local media reports, a suspect was taken into custody. While the police didn't name him, the alleged shooter is a 71-year-old writer. "I have absolutely no idea what father was thinking, what he was planning, why it happened," the alleged suspect's son told Slovak news site aktuality.sk.

(With inputs from AFP, PTI)