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Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was critically injured on Wednesday in a shooting that the government called an assassination attempt and several politicians linked to the country’s stark polarisation.

Fico’s office said he was in a “life-threatening condition” after being shot multiple times as he greeted people in the town of Handlová, about 190km from the central European country’s capital, Bratislava.

The government said the 59-year-old populist, pro-Russian leader was transferred by helicopter to a hospital in the nearby city of Banská Bystrica, rather than Bratislava, because of the need for “acute intervention”.

Fico underwent surgery on Wednesday evening, according to defence minister Robert Kaliňák, a close ally of the prime minister.

He added Fico’s situation was “very complicated”, but that “we believe he will be strong enough to handle this trauma”. 

Deputy prime minister Tomáš Taraba later told the BBC he thought Fico’s hospital operation “went well”, adding: “I guess in the end he will survive.”

A man with a gun licence was detained as a suspect over the shooting, local media reported.

The attacker had a “clear political motivation”, said interior minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok, who added the assailant decided to act after Peter Pellegrini, a Fico coalition government ally, won the country’s presidential election in April.

Some politicians from Fico’s coalition were quick to claim the opposition had provoked the attack.

Taraba said “the entire hateful opposition has bloody fingers”.

Other politicians linked the shooting with acute political divisions affecting Slovakia, an EU member state.

In a televised address to the nation, outgoing President Zuzana Čaputová called for a halt to vitriolic language against politicians.

“The hateful rhetoric we witness leads to hateful acts,” she said. “A physical attack on the prime minister is primarily an attack on a person, but also on democracy.”

Čaputová said she was shocked by the “brutal and reckless” attack and wished Fico “a lot of strength at this critical moment to recover”.

Death threats against politicians are frequent in Slovakia, said Milan Nič, analyst at the German Council on Foreign Relations and former adviser to Slovakia’s foreign ministry.

“It is not an isolated incident. This is one of the most polarised countries in Europe . . . with regular threats against the lives of politicians,” he added.

Fico, founder of the populist Smer party, began his fourth term in office last October leading a three-way Eurosceptic coalition.

The coalition has been deeply at odds with liberal and pro-EU groups as it calls for tough anti-migrant measures and an end to sanctions against Russia imposed after its invasion of Ukraine.

Fico’s return to power sparked mass protests this year that echoed large-scale demonstrations in 2018 over the fatal shooting of a 27-year-old journalist who had been investigating alleged links between Smer and organised crime. Fico stepped down from his previous term amid those protests.

Michal Šimečka, leader of the country’s liberal opposition, said on social media site X: “We absolutely and strongly condemn the violence and . . . shooting of Prime Minister Robert Fico. We believe he will be fine.

“At the same time, we call on all politicians to refrain from any statements and actions that may contribute to the escalation of tension.”

Since returning to the premiership of Slovakia, Fico has made contentious political moves such as dissolving an anti-corruption office in defiance of warnings from Brussels.

Last month, his coalition moved ahead with a law targeting non-governmental organisations, which critics said was inspired by Hungary’s crackdown on civil rights groups.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a political ally of Fico within the EU, said he was shocked by the “heinous attack against my friend”.

Other world leaders were quick to condemn the shooting. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said: “Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good . . . My thoughts are with PM Fico and his family.”

US President Joe Biden said: “We condemn this horrific act of violence.”

The three-season pact will also see Netflix host at least one Christmas game in both 2025 and 2026, the league and the company announced on Wednesday.

“Last year, we decided to take a big bet on live — tapping into massive fandoms across comedy, reality TV, sports and more,” Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer, said in a statement. “There are no live annual events, sports or otherwise, that compare with the audiences NFL football attracts.”

The agreement marks the first time Netflix has licensed the rights to one of the world’s premiere sports and the first time it will show live football, the most popular sport in the US. The company will pay about $150 million for the two games this year, according to people familiar with the deal who asked not to be identified because the terms are private. It will be a similar amount if the company gets two games next year.

The NFL plans to announce its 2024-25 schedule on Wednesday.

The streaming industry leader has been experimenting with live programming for the past year as a way to broaden the entertainment options for its customers and create appealing properties for advertisers. Sports is the most valuable live programming in the world.

Executives at Netflix like the idea of a Christmas Day event that could bring millions of viewers to the service all at once. No live event is a bigger draw for viewers or advertisers in the US than the NFL, which accounts for the majority of the most-watched live TV broadcasts in the country every year.

The announcement confirms Bloomberg’s earlier report that a deal was imminent. Boomer Esiason, who hosts a morning sports radio program on WFAN in New York, and John Ourand at Puck previously reported on some aspects of the deal.

Netflix will elaborate on its plans Wednesday in New York, when executives are scheduled to present the upcoming programming lineup to potential advertisers. The Los Gatos, California-based company has dabbled in live sports before. It plans to carry a boxing match between former champ Mike Tyson and YouTube star Jake Paul in July. In January, the company acquired the exclusive rights to Raw as well as other programming from World Wrestling Entertainment, marking the service’s biggest move to date into live events. 

Boosting ad sales is a key part of the company’s efforts to sustain the double-digit revenue growth that analysts expect through 2026. Netflix said earlier this year that more than 23 million people use its advertising-supported offering around the world.

On a conference call with investors in April, co-Chief Executive Officer Greg Peters described the ad business as “growing quite quickly” from a relatively small base. In the US, the company offers a $6.99-a-month subscription that carries ads. 

“It takes a while to grow that into the point where it’s material,” Peters said. “So we look forward to that increasing in ’25 and then increasing further ’26 and beyond.”Play Video

Because live sporting events have commercial breaks built into their broadcasts, Netflix will show advertising to all of its users in a given market — not just the those on a cheaper, ad-supported plan.

The NFL has an existing relationship with Netflix, which produced the series Quarterback that debuted last July. The sequel, called Receiver, will release in July. The league has been carving up its rights to create additional game packages for partners, streaming services in particular.

In March the league announced two other streaming exclusives. Comcast Corp.’s Peacock service will carry a Philadelphia Eagles game in Week 1 of the season from Sao Paulo, Brazil on Sept. 6. The opponent hasn’t been named. It also awarded a wildcard playoff game to Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Video, which already shows Thursday Night Football.