Slovakia: PM Fico in 'serious' state after another operation

Fico is being treated at the F.D. Roosevelt University Hospital in Banska Bystrica

Friday's operation lasted almost two hours, Robert Fico's deputy said. The prime minister underwent a longer surgery in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday's shooting.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico had a second operation on Friday, two days after being shot multiple times in what his office described as an assassination attempt.

"He had an almost two-hour-long operation" on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak told reporters outside the hospital in Banska Bystrica where Fico had surgery.

"His state is still very serious. I think it would take a couple of days to see the course of the development of his state," Kalinak added.

Kalinak, who is also the defense minister, is standing in for Fico during the prime minister's absence.

Government says more information when situation allows

Friday's operation came after Fico underwent five hours of surgery in the wake of the shooting. Kalinak called it a "standard step."

It remains unclear if the 59-year-old will make a full recovery.

The government in Bratislava said on Friday that additional information on Fico's condition would be made public "when the situation allows."

It also asked the media, politicians and members of the public to only disseminate officially circulated information, saying misleading false information and speculation had also been reported in the media.

A 71-year-old was charged on Thursday with the attempted murder of Fico following the attack in which the prime minister was shot while greeting supporters in a square in the central Slovakian town of Handlova.

Authorities described the suspect as a "lone wolf" with political grievances.

'Slovakia is totally divided,' says Gasparovic

Former Slovakian president Ivan Gasparovic on Friday expressed hopes that deep divisions within the European country could be overcome following the attack.

"Slovakia is totally divided," 83-year-old Gasparovic said on Czech public television, adding that society had at least found some unity in recent days.

"Even those who have completely different views on Fico and politics in Slovakia have realized that things can't go on like this," he said.

A lawyer by trade, Gasparovic headed the country from 2004 to 2014.

Gasparovic added that Slovakian politics had become more like "a circus tent and a boxing ring" where politicians' private affairs were discussed or hatred was spread.

jsi/msh (dpa, AFP)