Condition of Slovakia's prime minister improves following an assassination attempt

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovak populist Prime Minister Robert Fico’s condition is improving following an assassination attempt last week that shocked the European Union nation deeply polarized over his policies.

“After today’s consultation, the patient’s condition is stabilized,” the hospital treating the Slovak leader in the central city of Banská Bystrica said on Monday.

A statement released by the clinic said Fico is “clinically improving, communicating, inflammatory parameters are slowly decreasing.”

It said Fico remains hospitalized in the clinic for the time being.

On Sunday, the clinic said that Fico, 59, was no longer in life threating condition after he was shot in the abdomen as he greeted supporters on Wednesday outside a cultural center in the town of Handlova, nearly 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital, Bratislava.