Slovak Prime Minister Is Improving After Second Operation, Official Says

Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, was in improving health on Saturday morning, the country’s deputy minister said, after having a second surgery on the wounds he sustained when he was shot in an assassination attempt on Wednesday.

“Several miracles happened,” the deputy minister, Robert Kalinak, told reporters. He added of Mr. Fico, “He is conscious, with all the limitations of this serious injury.”

Mr. Kalinak made the remarks in front of the F.D. Roosevelt University Hospital in the central city of Banska Bystrica, where Mr. Fico was taken after he was shot multiple times by a lone gunman.

Earlier Saturday morning, in a different part of the country, the 71-year-old suspect in the shooting, a man identified by the authorities only as Juraj C., was presented to a judge, who ordered that he would remain in custody until trial.

The shooting, which occurred in the town of Handlova, in the center of Slovakia, was the most serious attack on a European leader in decades.

Mr. Fico was shot multiple times, but Mr. Kalinak explained during a television interview on Saturday that one of the wounds posed the greatest risk to Mr. Fico’s health.

On Friday, Mr. Kalinak said, doctors removed infected tissue from the area of that wound in the second emergency surgery Mr. Fico has had since the attack.

Because of the severity of his injuries, Mr. Kalinak said, Mr. Fico will not be able to be transferred to Bratislava, Slovakia’s capital and largest city, for at least a few more days.

Also on Saturday morning, in Pezinok, a city in western Slovakia, some 12 miles from Bratislava, Slovak and international reporters waited outside a court building while special police forces secured the surroundings before bringing in the suspect for an appearance before a judge.

After a closed hearing, the judge ordered that the suspect would remain in custody until the authorities can charge and try him.

“The reason for detention is the fear of possible escape, as well as the continuation of criminal activity,” said Katarina Kudjakova, a spokeswoman for the court.