BRATISLAVA, May 22. /TASS/. The condition of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is currently in a hospital in the town of Banska Bystrica (Western Slovakia), is stable, Slovak Deputy Prime Minister, Defense Minister Robert Kalinak told a press conference following a State Security Council meeting.

"The minister’s condition was stable this morning," he said.

Still, Fico, who was shot several times, is not out of the woods yet. "Transporting him [to Bratislava] is definitely not an option at this point," the deputy minister said. He added that he talked to Fico, but it was a private conversation and he would not reveal what was said.

An armed attack on Fico took place in the western Slovak town of Handlova on May 15. The politician suffered gunshot wounds and had to undergo surgery. The gunman, Juraj Cintula, a 71-year-old writer, has been charged with a politically-motivated assassination attempt.

Robert Fico took office as Slovak prime minister on October 25, 2023. Earlier, he served as prime minister in 2006-10 and 2012-18. The politician has long been critical of the West’s Ukraine strategy, emphasizing that there is no military solution to the conflict, while weapons supplies to Kiev are only leading to numerous casualties.