BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Prime Minister Robert Fico of Slovakia underwent an additional surgery, officials said Friday, as authorities for the first time identified the suspect in an assassination attempt that has reverberated in Europe and raised fears about what comes next for the deeply polarized country.
Details on Wednesday’s attack, including about the assailant and about who is leading the country while the prime minister is hospitalized, have been scant, driving a swirl of speculation and questions.
On Friday, a statement from the General Prosecutor’s Office identified the suspect — albeit with only a first name and an initial — as Juraj C. In the statement, the prosecutor’s office said it was not possible to provide more information yet because authorities needed to “properly clarify the sensitive matter and fairly punish the perpetrator.”
Slovakia’s interior minister has described the suspect as a “lone wolf” radicalized after last month’s presidential election.
On Friday, news media in Slovakia reported that police officers had escorted the suspect to his home in Levice, where they searched the premises and seized documents. Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on those reports.
Suspects can be held in jail without a court order for a maximum of 48 hours in Slovakia — and that time limit was due to elapse Friday. A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office, Zuzana Drobova, said a motion had been filed Friday to keep the suspect in Fico’s shooting in custody for longer.
The court will consider the motion, and the suspect will appear for a preliminary hearing Saturday morning, according to Katarina Kudjakova, a court spokesperson. She called the allegations against Juraj C. — attempted premeditated murder — “particularly serious.”
The dribble of information came after a brief update Friday on the condition of Fico, which has also been closely guarded.
Slovakia’s deputy prime minister, Robert Kalinak, said that Fico had undergone a nearly two-hour surgery but was conscious.
According to the hospital director, Miriam Lapunikova, Fico remains in serious but stable condition. She said it was not yet known whether the prime minister would require additional procedures.
Authorities are mounting two investigations into the assassination attempt — one into the attacker, the other into the response of security forces at the scene — and urged against rushing to judgment.
