Slovak prime minister’s condition remains serious but prognosis positive after assassination bid

By LEFTERIS PITARAKIS
Associated Press

BANSKA BYSTRICA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s defense minister says the country’s populist prime minister, Robert Fico, remains in serious condition but now has a positive prognosis, four days after he was shot multiple times in an assassination attempt that sent shockwaves across the deeply polarized European Union nation. Fico was shot in the abdomen as he greeted supporters on Wednesday outside a cultural center in the town of Handlova. A man has been arrested and charged with attempted murder in the case. On Friday, Fico underwent two hours of surgery in the town of Banska Bystrica to remove dead tissue from his gunshot wounds. He is not healthy enough to be transferred to the capital, officials say.