The Slovak prime minister was shot in the abdomen in May while greeting supporters in the town of Handlova.
Slovakia’s deputy prime minister says the country’s prime minister, Robert Fico, will suffer ongoing health problems after surviving a shooting in May.
Robert Kaliňák said Fico’s condition was gradually improving, but he would likely suffer musculoskeletal problems.
“His health is still far from ideal. After a gunshot wound to the abdomen, these organs no longer function as they did at 17 or 30 years old. It’s still very irregular. As part of his regular rehabilitation, the doctors are doing everything they can to make sure he can do his job to his fullest ability, and we are getting close,” he said.
Kaliňák said he expected Fico to make another public appearance in the coming days, but did not specify whether it would be in person or by video.
The announcement is an apparent improvement over Fico’s own assessment of his condition in a video released in early June, his first public appearance since the shooting, in which he said: “It will be a small miracle if I’m going back to work in a few weeks. »
The 59-year-old prime minister was shot in the abdomen at close range while greeting supporters after a government meeting in Handlová on May 15.
Videos show him approaching people gathered at the barricades and extending his hand to them as one man steps forward, extends his arm and fires five shots before being wrestled to the ground and arrested.
Fico underwent a five-hour surgery to treat the multiple wounds he suffered in the shooting, followed by another two-hour operation two days later to remove dead tissue from his gunshot wounds.
At the end of May, he was flown from Banská Bystrica hospital to the capital Bratislava, where he was treated at home.
Fico has since said he has forgiven his attacker and feels “no hatred toward the strangers who shot me.”
“I will not take any legal action against him or seek compensation. I forgive him and let him reflect on what he did and why he did it,” he said.
Barely a week after the shooting, the 130 members of the Slovak parliament passed a resolution calling on all political parties, civic organizations and media to respect the election results and refrain from spreading hatred against the democratically elected government, after public figures blamed the attempted assassination of Fico on a culture of toxicity.
