The Prime Minister of Slovakia has been shot while leaving a government meeting.

Prime Minister Robert Fico was reportedly lifted from the ground by security guards in the town in Slovakia and loaded into a car before being driven away.

The government office could not immediately be reached for comment.

News agency TASR reporter that Fico was shot in front of a building in Handlova, where a government meeting had just been held. He has been taken to hospital and a man has reportedly been arrested.

President Zuzana Caputova condemned "a brutal and ruthless" attack, saying: "I wish Robert Fico a lot of strength in this critical moment and a quick recovery from this attack."

One eyewitness told local media she heard four shots, adding: "When the shots rang out, I almost became deaf."

Fico, a populist Left-winger, has been PM since 2023, having served previously from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018.

He has caused controversy throughout Europe for his pro-Russian stance. He has previously pledged to end Western arms deliveries heading to Ukraine through Slovakia.

More to come...