Left-wing nationalist Robert Fico was appointed head of government in Bratislava on Wednesday by Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová. His cabinet was also sworn in. Fico has held the office several times in the past, but his position on Russia is controversial.
Fico leads a controversial coalition of two social democratic parties, his Smer and Hlas, and the pro-Russian Slovak National Party (SNS). The new Slovak parliament was also constituted on Wednesday.
Coalition partner wants a pro-European course
The Smer party under Fico won the parliamentary elections on September 30, ahead of the liberal Progressive Slovakia (PS) party and the more liberal Social Democrats (Hlas) led by former short-term government head Peter Pellegrini. Pellegrini had been courted as a coalition partner by both Fico and the Liberals, but ultimately decided to form a government with Fico. He now presents himself as a guarantor of a pro-European course in the future government.
Observers assume that EU and NATO member Slovakia, previously one of Ukraine’s major supporters in the war against Russia, will make a U-turn in foreign policy under Fico’s leadership and move closer to Hungary’s position. Following the announcement of the government alliance with the ultra-right SNS, the Social Democrats in the EU Parliament excluded Smer’s three Slovak MPs from the group.
Smer’s coalition agreement with the Hlas and the ultra-right SNS party was “incompatible with the progressive values and principles of the European family of socialists and social democrats,” the group said. Recent statements by party leaders in Slovakia on Russia’s war in Ukraine, migration, the rule of law and the rights of the LGBTQ community had caused “serious concerns” and “no place” in the party family, the report said.
Fico is considered a “Russian friend”
During the election campaign, Fico stated that under his leadership, Slovakia would not supply “one shot of ammunition” to Ukraine. At the same time, he called for better relations with Russia. The left-wing populist was head of government in Slovakia from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018 and twice formed a government with the SNS. Even then, Smer’s membership of the European Social Democrats was suspended. The Hlas emerged from a split of Fico’s Smer party in 2020.
Source: Krone
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