After the parliamentary elections in Slovakia, the pro-Russian former Prime Minister Robert Fico was given the government mandate. To form a majority, the 59-year-old is dependent on other parties. A possible partner of the Smer-SD is the social-democratic Hlas-SD, which split from the Smer in 2020.
The third partner could be the nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS). The social-democratic Smer received 23.3 percent of the votes. Fico headed the Slovak government from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018, twice forming a government with the SNS, which also rejects further military aid to Ukraine. He eventually resigned in 2018 after the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée. Kuciak had discovered links between the Italian mafia and Fico’s ruling party.
Rapprochement with Hungary?
Observers assume that the EU and NATO country Slovakia will make a U-turn in foreign policy under Fico’s leadership and move closer to Hungary’s position. So far, Slovakia has been one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters in the war. The media wrote about Fico’s ‘personal charisma’, ‘criticism of EU sanctions’, but also about a ‘straight path’ (source from Hungary). It is feared that with the election victory, investigations into cases involving organized crime during Fico’s previous term will come to nothing.
President Zusana Caputova said that as head of state it is her duty to respect the outcome of the elections and ensure the functioning of constitutional institutions. She ordered Fico to set up a new government.
Source: Krone
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