HONOLULU (AP) — For decades, tourists to Hawaii have brought home gift boxes of the islands’ famous chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for friends and family, but these days many of the kernels in the package might not be Hawaii-grown.
This little-known fact is surfacing at the state Legislature as lawmakers wrestle over legislation that would force macadamia-nut processors of iconic brands like Mauna Loa to disclose whether their products contain nuts from outside the islands.
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HONOLULU (AP) — For decades, tourists to Hawaii have brought home gift boxes of the islands’ famous chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for friends and family, but these days many of the kernels in the package might not be Hawaii-grown.
Packages of macadamia nuts are displayed on store shelves on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Honolulu. For decades, tourists to Hawaii have brought home gift boxes of the islands' famous chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for friends and family. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
Packages of macadamia nuts are displayed on store shelves on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Honolulu. For decades, tourists to Hawaii have brought home gift boxes of the islands' famous chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for friends and family. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
A person looks at packages of macadamia nuts at a store on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Honolulu. For decades, tourists to Hawaii have brought home gift boxes of the islands' famous chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for friends and family. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
This 2020 photo provided by Island Harvest Hawaii shows macadamia nut trees in Kohala, Hawaii. Hawaii lawmakers are considering legislation that would require consumer packages to disclose when they contain macadamia nuts grown outside of Hawaii. They're hoping to protect local agriculture and ensure Hawaii will have locally grown macadamia nuts for years to come. (Crystal Grosshuesch via AP)
This 2020 photo provided by Island Harvest Hawaii shows a macadamia nut tree in Kohala, Hawaii. Hawaii lawmakers are considering legislation that would require consumer packages to disclose when they contain macadamia nuts grown outside of Hawaii. They're hoping to protect local agriculture and ensure Hawaii will have locally grown macadamia nuts for years to come. (Crystal Grosshuesch via AP)
This 2020 photo provided by Island Harvest Hawaii shows macadamia nut trees in Kohala, Hawaii. Hawaii lawmakers are considering legislation that would require consumer packages to disclose when they contain macadamia nuts grown outside of Hawaii. They're hoping to protect local agriculture and ensure Hawaii will have locally grown macadamia nuts for years to come. (Crystal Grosshuesch via AP)
This undated photo provided by Bonnie Self shows the Macadamia orchards in Naalehu, Hawaii. Hawaii lawmakers are considering legislation that would require consumer packages to disclose when they contain macadamia nuts grown outside of Hawaii. They're hoping to protect local agriculture and ensure Hawaii will have locally grown macadamia nuts for years to come. (Brad Nelson via AP)
This 2020 photo provided by Island Harvest Hawaii shows macadamia nuts and trees in Kohala, Hawaii. Hawaii lawmakers are considering legislation that would require consumer packages to disclose when they contain macadamia nuts grown outside of Hawaii. They're hoping to protect local agriculture and ensure Hawaii will have locally grown macadamia nuts for years to come. (Crystal Grosshuesch via AP)
Packages of macadamia nuts are displayed on store shelves on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Honolulu. For decades, tourists to Hawaii have brought home gift boxes of the islands' famous chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for friends and family. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
Growers want the measure to protect their crops and farms, while commercial nut brands say what Hawaii needs is more capacity to process mac nuts locally.
It's the latest tussle over labels for agricultural products from a specific geographic area, a topic familiar to Hawaii due to long-running disputes over Kona coffee. It echoes similar challenges faced by maple syrup producers in Vermont and distilleries in Champagne, which have had to fend off sparkling wine producers from other places trying to appropriate the French region's name.
Foreign nuts are being “marketed cleverly as Hawaiian,” said Jeffrey Clark, chief operating officer of a trust that owns Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company.
“It’s not clear to consumers what is Hawaii grown and what is foreign grown," Clark told state lawmakers during a recent committee hearing. "It creates a problem for the farmers here in Hawaii.”
The stakes are high for Hawaii’s 600-plus macadamia nut farmers, many of whom have small operations. Combined, they produced $62.7 million in nuts in 2021, just ahead of coffee in value and second only to seed farms that research genetically engineered corn.
Growers say they can’t find buyers for their kernel and unharvested nuts are falling from their trees. Some farmers are giving up and trying to sell their equipment.
In response, state lawmakers are due to vote on legislation Wednesday that would require consumer packages to disclose when they contain macadamia nuts grown outside of Hawaii. The measure would take effect on Jan. 1, 2026, if it becomes law. The governor has not indicated whether he will sign it.
Macadamia nut trees are native to Australia and were introduced to Hawaii in 1881 by a Scotsman who managed a Big Island sugar mill. The first major attempt at commercial planting dates to 1948. Chocolate-covered macadamia nuts took off the following decade. In the 1970s and '80s, Hawaii harvested more than 10 times the amount of the next four major producers combined.
But today, Australia, South Africa, China and Kenya all grow more than Hawaii. In 2022, the state's production plummeted 29% from the year before, according to industry data.
Hawaiian Host Group sells macadamia nuts under some of the state's most venerable brands. Their rectangular boxes of Hawaiian Host chocolate-covered macadamia nuts are favorites of tourists and locals alike. Their blue-colored Mauna Loa cans and bags are among the most recognizable macadamia products on store shelves.
The company's chief administrative officer told lawmakers in a Senate committee hearing that the amount of foreign macadamia nuts the company buys varies depending on the Hawaii crop.
“We try to purchase as much local macadamias as the growers will sell to us,” Michelle Leon-Guerrero said.
CEO Ed Schultz told lawmakers his company buys one-third of the mac nuts grown in Hawaii. It's been doing so at a 35% premium to Australian prices in 2023 and that Hawaii's nuts need to be competitive with those from Down Under, he said.
He said what the industry needs is more processing capacity. Toward this end, Hawaiian Host wants the industry to form a co-op to run a new processing facility on the Big Island. Many growers are reluctant to join such a project without a labeling requirement that will differentiate their nuts from others around the world.
Nathan Trump, the president of the Hawaii Macadamia Nut Association, said Hawaii macadamia nuts have strong brand recognition. But he said the status quo turns the nuts into a commodity.
“When you look at things like Vermont maple syrup, New Zealand beef — different country of origin matters because quality matters to consumers,” he said. “If they understand the country of origin, I think they’ll be able to make the decision if they want to pay a higher price."
Vermont law says no maple product may be labeled as being from Vermont, or labeled in a way that implies it was, unless it was 100% produced in Vermont in compliance with state standards.
In Europe, Champagne makers came together in the 19th century to prevent sparkling wine makers operating elsewhere from using the French region’s name for their beverage. Today, European Union rules allow products to obtain a geographical designation if they have a specific link to where the product is made.
State Rep. Kristin Kahaloa's Big Island district sits on the western slopes of Mauna Loa, the volcano that is the namesake of the popular nut brand. She said smaller farmers and producers want both labeling requirements and more processing capacity, and she agrees.
“Mauna Loa is the name of our mountain,” Kahaloa said. “It’s about keeping a special agricultural product that is part of the fabric of our community on our island."
Packages of macadamia nuts are displayed on store shelves on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Honolulu. For decades, tourists to Hawaii have brought home gift boxes of the islands' famous chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for friends and family. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
Packages of macadamia nuts are displayed on store shelves on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Honolulu. For decades, tourists to Hawaii have brought home gift boxes of the islands' famous chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for friends and family. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
Packages of macadamia nuts are displayed on store shelves on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Honolulu. For decades, tourists to Hawaii have brought home gift boxes of the islands' famous chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for friends and family. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
A person looks at packages of macadamia nuts at a store on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Honolulu. For decades, tourists to Hawaii have brought home gift boxes of the islands' famous chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for friends and family. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
This 2020 photo provided by Island Harvest Hawaii shows macadamia nut trees in Kohala, Hawaii. Hawaii lawmakers are considering legislation that would require consumer packages to disclose when they contain macadamia nuts grown outside of Hawaii. They're hoping to protect local agriculture and ensure Hawaii will have locally grown macadamia nuts for years to come. (Crystal Grosshuesch via AP)
This 2020 photo provided by Island Harvest Hawaii shows a macadamia nut tree in Kohala, Hawaii. Hawaii lawmakers are considering legislation that would require consumer packages to disclose when they contain macadamia nuts grown outside of Hawaii. They're hoping to protect local agriculture and ensure Hawaii will have locally grown macadamia nuts for years to come. (Crystal Grosshuesch via AP)
This 2020 photo provided by Island Harvest Hawaii shows macadamia nut trees in Kohala, Hawaii. Hawaii lawmakers are considering legislation that would require consumer packages to disclose when they contain macadamia nuts grown outside of Hawaii. They're hoping to protect local agriculture and ensure Hawaii will have locally grown macadamia nuts for years to come. (Crystal Grosshuesch via AP)
This undated photo provided by Bonnie Self shows the Macadamia orchards in Naalehu, Hawaii. Hawaii lawmakers are considering legislation that would require consumer packages to disclose when they contain macadamia nuts grown outside of Hawaii. They're hoping to protect local agriculture and ensure Hawaii will have locally grown macadamia nuts for years to come. (Brad Nelson via AP)
This 2020 photo provided by Island Harvest Hawaii shows macadamia nuts and trees in Kohala, Hawaii. Hawaii lawmakers are considering legislation that would require consumer packages to disclose when they contain macadamia nuts grown outside of Hawaii. They're hoping to protect local agriculture and ensure Hawaii will have locally grown macadamia nuts for years to come. (Crystal Grosshuesch via AP)
Packages of macadamia nuts are displayed on store shelves on Friday, April 26, 2024, in Honolulu. For decades, tourists to Hawaii have brought home gift boxes of the islands' famous chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for friends and family. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)
BANSKA BYSTRICA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times and gravely wounded Wednesday, but his deputy prime minister said he believed Fico would survive.
The prime minister had been greeting supporters at an event when the attempted assassination took place, shocking the small country and reverberating across Europe weeks before an election.
“I guess in the end he will survive,” Tomas Taraba told the BBC, adding: “He’s not in a life threatening situation at this moment.”
Doctors fought for Fico's life several hours after the pro-Russian leader, 59, was hit in the abdomen, Defense Minister Robert Kalina told reporters at the hospital where Fico was being treated.
Five shots were fired outside a cultural center in the town of Handlova, nearly 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital, government officials said. Fico was shot while attending a meeting of his government in the town of 16,000 that was once a center of coal mining.
A suspect was in custody, and an initial investigation found “a clear political motivation” behind the assassination attempt, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok said as he briefed reporters alongside the defense minister.
Fico has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond, but his return to power last year on a pro-Russian, anti-American message led to even greater worries among fellow European Union members that he would lead his country further from the Western mainstream.
Kicking off his fourth term as prime minister, his government halted arms deliveries to Ukraine, and critics worry that he will lead Slovakia — a nation of 5.4 million that belongs to NATO — to abandon its pro-Western course and follow in the footsteps of Hungary under populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Thousands have repeatedly rallied in the capital and across Slovakia to protest Fico’s policies.
A message posted to Fico’s Facebook account said he was taken to a hospital in Banská Bystrica, 29 kilometers (17 miles) from Handlova, because it would take too long to get to the capital, Bratislava.
The attack comes as political campaigning heats up three weeks ahead of Europe-wide elections to choose lawmakers for the European Parliament. Concern is mounting that populist and nationalists similar to Fico could make gains in the 27-member bloc.
But politics as usual were put aside as the nation faced the shock of the attempt on Fico’s life.
“A physical attack on the prime minister is, first of all, an attack on a person, but it is also an attack on democracy,” outgoing President Zuzana Caputova, a political rival of Fico, said in a televised statement. “Any violence is unacceptable. The hateful rhetoric we’ve been witnessing in society leads to hateful actions. Please, let’s stop it.”
President-elect Peter Pellegrini, an ally of Fico, called the shooting “an unprecedented threat to Slovak democracy. If we express other political opinions with pistols in squares, and not in polling stations, we are jeopardizing everything that we have built together over 31 years of Slovak sovereignty.”
The recent elections that brought Fico and his allies to power have underlined deep social divisions, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, Slovakia’s neighbor to the east.
Gábor Czímer, a political journalist at Slovakian news outlet Ujszo.com, said Fico’s return to power had uncovered signs that “Slovak society is strongly split into two camps” — one that is friendly toward Russia and another that pushes for stronger connections with the EU and the West.
“At the same time, I couldn’t imagine that it would lead to physical violence,” Czímer said.
Estok, the Slovak interior minister, told reporters outside the hospital that the country was “on the edge of a civil war” from the political tension.
“Such hateful comments are being made on social networks today, so please, let’s stop this immediately,” he said.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he was alarmed by the assassination attempt. “We condemn this horrific act of violence,” he said in a statement.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg posted on the social media platform X that he was “shocked and appalled” by the attempt on Fico’s life. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it a “vile attack.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the violence against a neighboring country’s head of government.
“Every effort should be made to ensure that violence does not become the norm in any country, form or sphere,” he said.
Slovakia’s Parliament was adjourned until further notice. The major opposition parties, Progressive Slovakia and Freedom and Solidarity, canceled a planned protest against a controversial government plan to overhaul public broadcasting that they say would give the government full control of public radio and television.
Progressive Slovakia leader Michal Simecka called on all politicians “to refrain from any expressions and steps which could contribute to further increasing the tension.”
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala wished the premier a swift recovery. “We cannot tolerate violence, there’s no place for it in society.”
The Czech Republic and Slovakia formed Czechoslovakia until 1992.
Janicek reported from Prague. Associated Press Writer Justin Spike contributed from Budapest, Hungary.
Police cars are parked outside the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Police and officials stand outside the entrance of the emergency room of the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Wards are lit at the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Police and officials stand outside the entrance of the emergency room of the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Police and officials stand outside the entrance of the emergency room of the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
News crews walk outside the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
A police line is placed outside the entrance of the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Television crews report from the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Policemen stand outside the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
The Slovak and European Union flags fly outside the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Policemen stand outside the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Slovakia's Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok speaks during a joint press conference with Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Slovakia Robert Kalinak, left, at the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The shooting Wednesday of Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico in the town of Handlova following a political event sent shockwaves across Europe three weeks before EU parliament elections are scheduled to be held. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Slovakia's Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok pulls on his shirt collar after holding a press conference at the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The shooting Wednesday of Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico in the town of Handlova following a political event sent shockwaves across Europe three weeks before EU parliament elections are scheduled to be held. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Slovakia Robert Kalinak pauses during a press conference at the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Slovakia Robert Kalinak speaks during a joint press conference with Slovakia's Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok, right, at the F. D. Roosevelt University Hospital, where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, is treated in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos)
Slovakia's prime minister was attacked by an armed assailant and hospitalized Wednesday. (AP Graphic)
FILE - Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks during a press conference with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. Prime Minister Robert Fico returned to power in Slovakia last year. Having previously served twice as prime minister, from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018, the 59-year-old's third term made him the longest-serving head of government in Slovakia’s history. . (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, right, talks to Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Prime Minister Robert Fico returned to power in Slovakia last year. Having previously served twice as prime minister, from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018, the 59-year-old's third term made him the longest-serving head of government in Slovakia’s history. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)
Rescue workers wheel Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, to a hospital in the town of Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP)
Slovak outgoing president Zuzana Caputova speaks during a press conference in Bratislava, Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 after Slovak Prime Minister was shot and injured. Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting after a political event Wednesday afternoon, an episode of violence that punctuated his long career spanning decades in politics. (Jaroslav Novak/TASR via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, shakes hands with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. Prime Minister Robert Fico returned to power in Slovakia last year. Having previously served twice as prime minister, from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018, the 59-year-old's third term made him the longest-serving head of government in Slovakia’s history. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool, File)
Police arrest a man after Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and injured following the cabinet's away-from-home session in the town of Handlova, Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile. (Radovan Stoklasa/TASR via AP)
Rescue workers wheel Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, to a hospital in the town of Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile. (Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP)
Bodyguards take Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in a car from the scene after he was shot and injured following the cabinet's away-from-home session in the town of Handlova, Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile. (Radovan Stoklasa/TASR via AP)
Police arrest a man after Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and injured following the cabinet's away-from-home session in the town of Handlova, Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile. (Radovan Stoklasa/TASR via AP)
Rescue workers wheel Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, to a hospital in the town of Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile. (Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP)
Rescue workers take Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, to a hospital in the town of Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico is in life-threatening condition after being wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon, according to his Facebook profile. (Jan Kroslak/TASR via AP)
FILE - Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks during a press conference with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was wounded in a shooting Wednesday May 15, 2024 and taken to hospital. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)
FILE - Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks during a press conference with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was wounded in a shooting Wednesday May 15, 2024 and taken to hospital. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)
FILE - Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico arrives to a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. Media reports say on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 that Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was injured in a shooting and taken to hospital. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)
FILE - Former Slovak Prime Minister and head of leftist SMER - Social Democracy party Robert Fico arrives for an election rally in Michalovce, Slovakia, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was wounded in a shooting Wednesday May 15, 2024 and taken to hospital. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
FILE - Leader of the Smer-Social Democracy party Robert Fico addresses the media during a press conference a day after the Slovakia's general election in Bratislava, Sunday, March 1, 2020. Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was wounded in a shooting Wednesday May 15, 2024 and taken to hospital. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico arrives for a cabinet's away-from-home session in the town of Handlova, Slovakia, Wednesday, May, 15, 2024. Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and injured after the away-from-home government meeting in Handlova, according to information confirmed by Parliamentary Vice-Chair Lubos Blaha, who suspended the House session. (Radovan Stoklasa/TASR via AP)
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, centre, back to the camera, waves people before the cabinet's away-from-home session in the town of Handlova, Slovakia, Wednesday, May, 15, 2024. Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and injured after the away-from-home government meeting in Handlova, according to information confirmed by Parliamentary Vice-Chair Lubos Blaha, who suspended the House session. (Radovan Stoklasa/TASR via AP)
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks during a press conference after the cabinet's away-from-home session in the town of Handlova, Slovakia, Wednesday, May, 15, 2024. Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and injured after the away-from-home government meeting in Handlova, according to information confirmed by Parliamentary Vice-Chair Lubos Blaha, who suspended the House session. (Radovan Stoklasa/TASR via AP)
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, centre, speaks with people before the cabinet's away-from-home session in the town of Handlova, Slovakia, Wednesday, May, 15, 2024. Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and injured after the away-from-home government meeting in Handlova, according to information confirmed by Parliamentary Vice-Chair Lubos Blaha, who suspended the House session. (Radovan Stoklasa/TASR via AP)
FILE - Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico arrives for the V4 meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. Media reports say on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 that Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was injured in a shooting and taken to hospital. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
FILE - Chairman of SMER-Social Democracy party Robert Fico arrives at his party's headquarters in Bratislava, Slovakia, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023 the day after an early parliamentary election. Media reports on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 say Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was injured in a shooting and taken to hospital. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
