New Delhi, May 16: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed deep shock at the news of the assassination attempt on Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico and expressed strong condemnation of the cowardly and dastardly act.

In a post on X, the PM also wished his Slovak counterpart speedy recovery and said that India stands in solidarity with the people of the Slovak Republic.

“Deeply shocked at the news of the shooting at Slovakia’s Prime Minister, H.E. Mr. Robert Fico. I strongly condemn this cowardly and dastardly act and wish PM Fico a speedy recovery. India stands in solidarity with the people of the Slovak Republic,” the PM said.

The Slovakian PM, a pro-Russian leader, was shot multiple times and gravely wounded on Wednesday but his deputy prime minister said he believed Fico would survive.

Fico, 59, had been greeting supporters at an event when the attempted assassination took place, shocking the small country and reverberating across Europe weeks before an election.

He was reported to be fighting for his life after being hit in the stomach.

Five shots were fired outside a cultural centre in the town of Handlova, nearly 140 km northeast of the capital, government officials said. Fico was shot while attending a meeting of his government in the town of 16,000 that was once a centre of coal mining.

UNI