The President suddenly canceled the roundtable with parties in the National Assembly. How is Prime Minister Robert Fico's health?

The Slovak President's Office announced the postponement of a roundtable between outgoing President Zuzana Caputova and President-elect Peter Pellegrin with political parties in parliament, scheduled for May 21.

Outgoing Slovak President Zuzana Caputova (right) and President-elect Peter Pellegrin convened a roundtable between parliamentary parties after Prime Minister Fico was assassinated on May 15. (Source: TASR)

On May 20, the Slovakian news agency TASR reported that the reason for postponing the conference was due to a lack of consensus among the parties.

According to Martin Strizinec, spokesman for the Slovak President, the country's leader still believes that the most important thing is social stability and that "requires not only time but also patience".

Previously, on May 19, President-elect Pellegrini, who is also the Chairman of the Social Democratic Voice (Hlas-SD) party in the ruling coalition, commented that the time was probably not yet ripe for a roundtable conference between political parties.

On May 16, President Caputova and President-elect Pellegrini proposed holding this meeting to find ways to calm the situation and prevent violence in Slovak society after the assassination of Prime Minister Robert Fico the day before.

The two leaders also called on political parties to temporarily suspend or significantly reduce their campaigning efforts for the European Parliament (EP) elections. However, two of the three parties in the ruling coalition, including Prime Minister Fico's Social Democratic Party (Sme-SD), rejected the proposal.

Regarding Prime Minister Fico's condition, also on May 20, Reuters quoted the announcement of the treating doctors saying that his health was stable, there was clinical and communication improvement, and signs of inflammation were also gradually decreasing.

Mr. Fico, 59 years old, was hospitalized on May 15 after being shot multiple times while meeting with supporters in the town of Handlova, central Slovakia.

He was hit by four of the five bullets, including one that hit his abdomen. He was rushed to a nearby hospital for immediate emergency treatment, before being airlifted to a hospital in the city of Banska Bystrica.

Mr Fico underwent a five-hour operation that same day, and another two days later. Slovakian Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said one of the bullet wounds was just 5cm from Mr Fico's liver.

The suspected shooter, 71-year-old Juraj Cintula, was arrested at the scene.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/slovakia-tong-thong-bat-ngo-huy-hoi-nghi-ban-tron-voi-cac-dang-trong-quoc-hoi-tinh-hinh-suc-khoe-cua-thu-tuong-robert-fico-ra-sao-272051.html