YEREVAN, MAY 15, ARMENPRESS. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has been shot and wounded, BBC reports citing local media.

PM Fico was shot in front of a cultural community center in the town of Handlova, where a government meeting had been held, reports say.

The Slovak leader has been taken to hospital.

A Reuters witness said he heard several shots and that he saw a man being detained by police. He added that he saw security officials pushing someone into a car and driving off.

Handlova is around 180km (112 miles) north-east of the capital Bratislava.

In her initial reaction to the shooting, Slovakia's outgoing president Zuzana Caputova said she was shocked by the "brutal and ruthless" attack on the prime minister and wished him strength to recover.

Footage of the first moments after Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico, were shot pic.twitter.com/RoqD0wLBdL

— Capixaba da Gema (@capixabadagema) May 15, 2024