2023-10-01 23:59:55
A turning point in Slovakia, where former “pro-Russian” Prime Minister Robert Fico He won the early legislative elections and took back the country with two slogans: stop sending weapons to Ukraine and stop immigrants.
After the night’s vote count that sensationally refuted the first data from the exit polls and confirmed, instead, the predictions of the day before, Bratislava woke up this morning much closer to Viktor Orban’s sovereigntist Hungary than to Brussels.
Fico will receive this Monday the task of forming an executive through negotiations with at least two other parties that the former prime minister himself hopes will Duren “of the weeks”.
The assignment was announced by Slovak President Zuzana Caputova after Saturday’s election results gave Fico’s Directorate-Social Democracy (Smer-Sd) 22.9% of the votes and, therefore, 42 of the 150 seats in the unicameral parliament of Bratislava.
Michal Simecka’s pro-EU, pro-Western liberal Progressive Slovakia (PS) party came second (18% and 32 deputies)but did not lose hope of forming its own majority, also involving two of the seven parties that entered parliament
In his first statements after the vote, the post-communist Fico reiterated that his government will be “ready to help Ukraine on a humanitarian level and in reconstruction, but not with weapons“, also because Slovakia “has bigger problems than Ukraine.”
Furthermore, already during the electoral campaign, without hiding his sympathies for the Russian president, Vladimir PutinFico had openly supported the invasion of “fascist” Ukraine and had promised, in addition to suspending military aid to kyiv, also to prevent its entry into NATO.
Robert Fico does not hide his sympathies for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo Bloomberg
“More deaths are useless”he said, adding: “Better 10 years of peace negotiations than letting people kill each other for another 10 years” and then “seeing that we are where we are today.”
In short, a change of direction for a country that shares the eastern border with Ukraine and has been one of its staunchest supporters since the start of the conflict, emerging as the first nation to send air defense missiles and fighter jets earlier this year and as one of Kiev’s largest European donors in proportion to the size of its economy.
Although Fico He assured that “Slovak foreign policy will not change”, analysts instead predict a radical turning point that will bring the country closer to that of Orban. It is no coincidence that the Hungarian leader immediately celebrated his return through his social network account X (formerly Twitter).
We are ready to help Ukraine on a humanitarian level and in reconstruction, but not with weapons
Robert FicoElection winner
“Guess who’s back! Congratulations to Robert Fico for his undisputed victory in the Slovak parliamentary elections. It’s always nice to work alongside a patriot. I do not see the hour!”.
Although he assured that “obviously we are members of the EU”, Fico recalled that “this does not mean that I cannot criticize things about the EU that I do not like.” For example, “we will also use force to protect our country from immigrants,” he said, warning that “they will not be pretty pictures.”
But before realizing his plans, Fico will have to find at least two allies who, as he hinted, could be above all the Slovak National Party (SnS, 5.6% and 10 seats), a nationalist and populist right-wing formation with which he already governed twice; but also the Voce-Social Democracy Party (Hlas-Sd, 14.7% and 27 seats) of its archrival Peter Pellegrini, pacifist on Ukraine but pro-European.
Pellegrini announced this Sunday morning that He has no preference for any coalition.
According to rumors, however, he would lean towards the Christian Democratic Movement (Kdh, 6.8% and 12 seats), which Simecka is betting on to also attract the Hlas and prevent Fico from governing.
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