Friends in town of Levice say 71-year-old showed no signs of planning attack, while Slovakian president says climate of hate is collective work

Mile L’udovit, like other residents of the unassuming grey apartment block on the outskirts of the sleepy central Slovakian town of Levice, considered Juraj Cintula a reliable neighbour and friend.

Having lived side by side with him for more than 40 years, L’udovit could never have imagined the 71-year-old former security guard and amateur poet would be suspected of perpetrating the worst political attack in Slovakian modern history – shooting the prime minister multiple times at point-blank range.

Peter Pellegrini says PM ‘escaped death by a hair’ and urges people to temper their emotions after ‘we crossed a red line’

The Slovakian prime minister, Robert Fico, is in a stable condition but “not out of the woods yet”, officials have said, as the country’s president-elect pleaded for unity after a shooting that laid bare the deep political divisions of recent months.

The shooting, the first major assassination attempt on a European political leader in more than 20 years, sent shockwaves across the continent, with leaders linking the violence to an increasingly febrile and polarised political climate across its countries in the run-up to European parliament elections in June.

Hospital director says Slovakia PM has stabilised but remains in a critical condition after he was shot several times on Wednesday

The suspect in yesterday’s shooting has been charged with attempted murder of Slovakia’s prime minister, local media reported.

Slovakia’s security council is set to meet this morning to discuss further action following the shock shooting that has been described by officials as the darkest day in the country’s modern history.

Suspect in custody after shooting attack on populist prime minister as deputy prime minister says Fico ‘will survive’ assassination attempt

• EU leaders condemn ‘cowardly’ shooting of Slovakian PM
• Profile who is Robert Fico?

Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, has undergone hours of surgery after being shot in an assassination attempt that prompted warnings across Europe of rising political violence.

Late on Wednesday the deputy prime minister, Tomáš Taraba, told the BBC he believed the operation had gone well. “I guess in the end he will survive,” Taraba said, adding: “He’s not in a life-threatening situation at this moment.”