Slovakia PM Robert Fico not in life-threatening condition

BBC- Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is no longer in a life-threatening condition after being shot several times, the deputy prime minister has said.

Tomas Taraba told the BBC Mr Fico's surgery had gone "well" and "I guess that at the end he will survive".

Earlier Mr Fico, 59, was said to have been "fighting for his life" after being gravely injured in the attack in the small town of Handlova.

A suspect was detained at the scene of the shooting.

Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estoka described it as a politically motivated assassination attempt.

Mr Fico is a divisive figure at home - and controversial in the EU - for his calls to end military aid to Ukraine and sanctions on Russia.

But condemnation of the shooting has come from far and wide and it has been described as an attack on democracy.

The gunman was in a small crowd of Fico supporters who were gathered outside a cultural centre in Handlova, where the prime minister had been holding a meeting.

The shooting took Mr Fico's security officers completely by surprise. Footage shows the prime minister after he was shot being carried by several officers, who bundle him into a car and drive him away from the scene.

The gunman fired five shots at close range and Mr Fico was hit in the stomach and in the arm.

Following the shooting, he was rushed to hospital and spent several hours in surgery "fighting for his life", according to Defence Minister Robert Kalinak.

There has been no official update on the prime minister's condition since then, but his second-in-command has since told the BBC's Newshour programme that Mr Fico was "not in [a] life-threatening situation at this moment".

"As far as I know, the operation went well and I guess that at the end he will survive," Mr Taraba said.

Mr Taraba added that the prime minister was shot "from very close" and that "one bullet went through the stomach and the second one hit the joint".