Bratislava, April 14 (CTK) – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was hospitalised yesterday, but the medical examination neither confirmed nor refuted a heart attack suspicion, Dobroslava Krajacicova, spokeswoman for the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases in Bratislava, has told reporters.
Fico (Smer-Social Democracy), 51, will stay in the hospital at least yesterday, she added.
Fico cancelled his visit to the Czech Republic for health reasons yesterday when he was to meet Czech PM Bohuslav Sobotka and President Milos Zeman.
“After the examination, the prime minister stays in our hospital for observation. Further steps will be decided later,” Krajacicova said.
Neither she nor the Government Office elaborated on Fico’s health condition.
Fico, 51, was not taken to the hospital by ambulance, but he drove there himself, the Dennik N. daily reported.
Fico, who has been the longest serving Slovak prime minister, heading also the governments in 2006-10 and 2012-2016, appeared in public only occasionally in the past two weeks.
On Tuesday, he excused himself from the court proceedings in which he was to testify as a witness.
On Wednesday, he attended a meeting of his new coalition cabinet, comprised of his Smer-SD and three right-wing parties – the Slovak National Party (SNS), Most-Hid (Bridge) and Siet(Network), which approved its policy statement.
Fico has long suffered from cervical spine problems.
In 2014, he was operated on for an Achilles tendon injury. He participated with this injury in a campaign before the direct presidential election in which he was defeated by current head of state Andrej Kiska.
