Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot several times on Wednesday, is out of immediate danger but still needs intensive care, Deputy Prime Minister Robert Kalinak said on Sunday, four days after the attack on the head of government.

"There is no immediate danger to his life anymore, but his condition remains serious," Kalinak told local media.

Robert Kalinak, who is Fico's closest political ally, added that despite the good news, the Slovak prime minister still needs intensive care".

The politician underwent a five-hour surgery on Wednesday and a shorter one on Friday, both in a hospital in the central Slovak town of Banska Bystrica.

Robert Fico, 59, was shot several times on Wednesday as he was leaving a government meeting in the town of Handlova.

On Saturday, a court in Pezinok, a small town just outside the capital Bratislava, ordered the suspected gunman to be detained in custody.

The suspect has been charged with attempted premeditated murder and could face a sentence of between 25 years and life in prison.

Prosecutors have asked police not to publicly identify the suspect or release other details about the case, but unconfirmed media reports have named him as a 71-year-old pensioner and amateur poet who worked as a security guard at a shopping mall in the southwest of the country.

Government officials have since given details that match that description. They said the suspect was not a member of any political group, although the attack itself was politically motivated.

World leaders have condemned the attack and offered support to Fico and Slovakia.

Fico, who has been prime minister since his centre-left Smer-SD party won a parliamentary election last autumn, has long been a controversial figure in Slovakia and beyond.

His return to power last year on a pro-Russian and anti-US platform has led to concerns among fellow European Union and NATO members that he could lead the country away from its pro-Western orientation, especially in relation to Ukraine.

The assassination attempt has deeply shocked Slovakia, a country of 5.4 million people and a member of both the European Union and NATO, which has been sharply divided politically for years.

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