A suspect has been charged with the attempted murder of Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is critically ill in hospital after being shot several times in an attempted assassination. 

Mr Fico’s assassination attempt shocked the central European country and sparked global condemnation of what is seen as a ‘politically motivated’ attack. 

The populist leader was attacked on Wednesday after an off-site government meeting in Handlova.

He had approached a small crowd of people waiting to meet him when the suspected gunman in the crowd lunged forward and shot him five times from across a security barrier. 

Multiple local media outlets have identified the alleged shooter as a 71-year-old man from southern Slovakia.

Footages from the scene showed the injured Mr Fico being bundled into a vehicle by his staff before it sped away with him inside. 

Nobody else was injured in the attack.

Although he’s currently stable, he is now undergoing surgery after being shot five times from a close range.

“Mr Fico is not out of a life-threatening situation,” the deputy prime minister,  Robert Kaliňák, told journalists.

Hospital officials said Mr Fico was first rushed into a local hospital and then airlifted to a major trauma centre in the nearby city of Banská Bystrica, where he spent more than five hours in surgery.

Miriam Lapuníková, hospital director, said the facility had two surgical teams operating on the prime minister.

Slovakia’s interior minister Matúš Šutaj-Eštok said the suspect told law enforcement officers that his action was motivated by his disagreement with the government and its reforms.

Mr Šutaj-Eštok said the suspect told law enforcement that his action was motivated by his disagreement with Mr Fico’s government’s policies. 

Mr Fico, 59, who returned to power last year and whose controversial policy changes have sparked protests in recent weeks.

His reforms, considered divisive, led to months of largely peaceful protests. Since Mr Fico’s return to power last year, Slovaks have been deeply divided over the country’s direction and position in the world.