CBS' Charlie Dageda has the dramatic video.

Just moments after a gunman opened fire on Slovakia's prime minister, Robert Fico, he collapses as bodyguards bundle him into the car.

Security officials say he was shot five times at close range.

The alleged shooter pinned down the suspect described by local media as a 71-year-old former security guard and activist.

Taken by chopper to the closest trauma hospital seen here being wheeled in, tonight Fico's office says he's fighting for his life.

The shooter's motive is unclear.

The prime minister has been a divisive figure in the Eastern European country of around 5.4 million people.

The populist leader of a NATO ally whose pro-Russian, pro-Putin stance brought him to power for a third time.

He has stood firm against sending more weapons to Ukraine.

Tonight, the Slovak defense minister called for calm.

What's happened, it's a political assault, it's absolutely clear.

And we have to react on that.

A political assault in which not only the prime minister's life, but the direction of his fractured country hang in the balance.

Charlie Daggett, CBS News, London.