(16 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Banska Bystrica, Slovakia – 16 May 2024
1. Start of new conference
2. SOUNDBITE (Slovak) Robert Kalinak, Minister of Defence of Slovakia:
"During the night, the doctors managed to stabilize the patient’s condition, and at the moment, further procedures are underway to improve his health. The situation is really serious."
++BLACK FRAMES++
3. SOUNDBITE (Slovak) Robert Kalinak, Minister of Defence of Slovakia:
"At this point, I would like to thank, first of all, the entire team of doctors, nurses, attendants, and all the medical staff who fought for the Prime Minister’s life all evening and all night and have managed to stabilize his condition this moment. Unfortunately, that condition remains very serious indeed just because of the complexity of those injuries. But we all want to hold on to the hope that we will be able to manage the situation."
++BLACK FRAMES++
4. SOUNDBITE (Slovak) Miriam Lapunikova, Director of hospital:
"The Prime Minister was airlifted by air ambulance to Urgent Care of Roosevelt Hospital yesterday afternoon, where he was given primary treatment. He was given a CT scan and then transported to the operating room, where he underwent a 5-hour surgical procedure involving two surgical teams – a surgical team and a trauma team. The patient had multiple gunshot wounds, the effects of which will ultimately be directed towards his recovery. As of this time, his condition is stable, but it is very serious indeed. Therefore, he will actually be secured in the intensive care unit in the ARO of Roosevelt Hospital, where he will be cared for by the entire team of doctors that he will need."
5. End of news conference, Kalinak and Lapunikova leaving
STORYLINE:
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico is in stable but serious condition on Thursday after being shot multiple times in an assassination attempt a day earlier, hospital and government officials said.
Doctors are continuing to treat Fico in an attempt to improve his condition, Defense Minister Robert Kalinak told reporters outside the hospital in Banska Bystrica.
The government says five shots were fired at Fico on Wednesday outside a cultural center where he was meeting with supporters.
A suspect was in custody, and an initial investigation found “a clear political motivation” behind the assassination attempt, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said Wednesday.
Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond, but his return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American message led to even greater worries among fellow European Union members that he would lead his country further from the Western mainstream.
AP video by Bela Szandelszky and Jan Gebert
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