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Slovak PM Fico No Longer in Immediate Danger but Condition Serious, Deputy Says

Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kalinak addresses a press conference in front of the F D Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia on May 19, 2024. (Photo by FERENC ISZA / AFP)
Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kalinak addresses a press conference in front of the F D Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia on May 19, 2024. (Photo by FERENC ISZA / AFP)
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Slovak PM Fico No Longer in Immediate Danger but Condition Serious, Deputy Says

Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kalinak addresses a press conference in front of the F D Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia on May 19, 2024. (Photo by FERENC ISZA / AFP)
Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kalinak addresses a press conference in front of the F D Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia on May 19, 2024. (Photo by FERENC ISZA / AFP)

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is no longer in immediate danger but still in a serious condition, his deputy said on Sunday, four days after an assassination attempt that sent shockwaves through Europe.
"We are all a little calmer," Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak told a news conference outside the hospital where Fico is being treated in the central Slovak town of Banska Bystrica.
The prime minister, 59, was hit by four bullets on Wednesday in an attack that raised alarm over the polarized state of politics in the central European country of 5.4 million people.
Kalinak told journalists that Fico's condition was still too serious to consider transferring him to a hospital in the capital. But the worst fears had passed for now, Reuters reported.
"When we were saying that we want to get closer to a positive prognosis, then I believe that we are a step closer to that," he added. "The prime minister has stepped away from his life being in danger, but his condition remains serious and requires intensive care."
The shooting was the first major assassination attempt on a European political leader for more than 20 years, and has drawn international condemnation. Political analysts and lawmakers say it has exposed an increasingly febrile and polarized political climate both in Slovakia and across Europe.
The Slovak Specialized Criminal Court ruled on Saturday that the suspect, identified by prosecutors as Juraj C., would remain in custody after being charged with attempted murder.
Local news media say the suspect is a 71-year-old former security guard at a shopping mall and the author of three collections of poetry.

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Pro-Palestinian Activists Due to Appear Court after Damaging Planes at RAF Base

Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
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Pro-Palestinian Activists Due to Appear Court after Damaging Planes at RAF Base

Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett

Four people are set to appear in a London courtroom on Thursday over charges connected with an incident in which pro-Palestinian protesters damaged two Royal Air Force planes with red paint and crowbars.

The charges come after the group Palestine Action said two of its members entered RAF Brize Norton on June 20 and used electric scooters to approach two Voyager jets used for air-to-air refueling. The protesters used repurposed fire extinguishers to spray paint into the planes’ jet engines and caused further damage with crowbars, according to the group, which released video footage of the incident, The Associated Press said.

The four, all between the ages of 22 and 35, are charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage and conspiracy to enter a prohibited place for purposes prejudicial to the interests of the UK, counter-terror police said in a statement. The Crown Prosecution Service will argue that that the offenses have a “terrorist connection,” police said.

Palestine Action has claimed responsibility for a series of incidents targeting Israeli defense contractors in the UK and other sites linked to the war in Gaza. Following the incident at RAF Brize Norton, the government introduced legislation to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist organization. The measure means it will be a criminal offense to belong to or support the group, with a maximum of 14 years in prison.

Palestine Action rejects that assertion, saying its protests are designed to end international support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

Planes from Brize Norton, 70 miles (112 kilometers) northwest of London, regularly fly to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, Britain’s main air base for operations in the Middle East.