Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is no longer in a life-threatening condition after being shot several times, the deputy prime minister has said, the BBC reports.
Tomas Taraba told the BBC Mr Fico’s surgery had gone “well” and “I guess that at the end he will survive.”
Earlier the defence minister said Mr Fico was “fighting for his life” after being gravely injured in an attack in the small town of Handlova.
A suspect was detained at the scene of the shooting.
Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estoka described it as a politically motivated assassination attempt.
Following the shooting, Mr Fico was rushed to hospital and spent several hours in surgery “fighting for his life”, according to Defence Minister Robert Kalinak, who spoke at a news conference from outside the hospital where Mr Fico was being treated on Wednesday.