An armed man has managed to fire plastic pellets at Czech president Vaclav Klaus.
While Mr Klaus suffered only minor bruising in the incident, some people are wondering why his bodyguards seemed unable, or unwilling, to react.
Serious questions are being asked about the president's security after a young man in camouflage gear pushed through a crowd and fired several plastic pellets at him at close range, the BBC reports.
The incident took place in the northern town of Chrastava while Mr Klaus was opening a bridge. Television footage showed him recoiling slightly in surprise before going on his way, apparently unhurt.
His security detail has come in for harsh criticism for allowing the man to get so close. It is also unclear why Mr Klaus' bodyguards failed to react when a gun was pulled on him.
Mr Klaus himself rebuked them for failing to handle the situation well, according a television station.
The weapon was of the sort that is used in "airsoft" gaming. The man was briefly interviewed by Czech media and said he was a 26-year-old communist sympathiser.
He said he had carried out the attack because the government was deaf to the concerns of ordinary people and was arrested soon afterwards by police.
Vaclav Klaus has been in the largely ceremonial post of president since 2003 and previously served as prime minister in the 1990s.
