October
1, 2023
Ex-PM
Robert Fico is set to replace a technocrat government that has been backing
Kyiv against the Russian invasion.
The
leftist-populist party of former Prime Minister Robert Fico has won the
parliamentary elections in Slovakia, running on a campaign with two clear
messages: no more military support to Ukraine and no more sanctions against
Russia.
Fico’s
Smer-SD party scored nearly 23 percent of the vote, earning the president’s nod
on Sunday to start talks to replace a technocrat government that has been
backing Kyiv against Russia’s invasion.
The
parties likely to join the new coalition are the left-wing Hlas (Voice) party –
which won 14.7 percent of the votes – and the ultranationalist Slovak National
Party, a clear pro-Russian group, that received 5.6 percent.
A
liberal, pro-West newcomer, the Progressive Slovakia party was a distant second
with 18 percent of the votes. Its leader Michal Simecka, who is the deputy
president of the European Parliament, said his party respected the result.
“But
it’s bad news for Slovakia,” he said. “And it would be even worse if Robert
Fico manages to create a government.”
No
more aid to Ukraine?
Slovakia
is a member of the NATO military alliance, which is backing Ukraine against
Russian President Vladimir Putin, but many of its people are sympathetic to
Moscow’s line that the West wants to annihilate it.
Fico,
59, said Slovakia has bigger problems than the Ukraine issue, including energy
prices and living costs, but his party would do everything possible to start
peace talks. During his campaign, Fico pledged to stop supporting neighbouring
Ukraine in its war against Russia.
“We
are not changing that we are prepared to help Ukraine in a humanitarian way,”
said Fico, whom analysts consider to be inspired by Hungary’s nationalist Prime
Minister Viktor Orban who has frequently clashed with the EU.
“We
are prepared to help with the reconstruction of the state but you know our
opinion on arming Ukraine,” he added at a news conference.
In
the past, Fico had opposed Ukraine’s bid to join NATO, saying it would “mean
the beginning of World War III”.
“The
war in Ukraine didn’t start a year ago, it started in 2014 when Ukrainian Nazis
and fascists started murdering Russian citizens in the Donbas and Luhansk,” he
had said in August.
“We
need to tell the whole world: Freedom came from the East, war always comes from
the West.”
So
far, Slovakia – a country 5.5 million people created in 1993 following the
breakup of Czechoslovakia – was a staunch supporter of Ukraine.
Since
the start of the war in February last year, Bratislava opened its borders to
the fleeing refugees and was a key logistical hub in NATO’s effort to transport
military support to Ukraine.
Slovakia
– ranked among the top five European donors to Kyiv in terms of its gross
domestic product – donated more than half its MiG fighter jets and dozens of
infantry vehicles. It was the first EU country to support Kyiv with an
antiaircraft missile system, the S-300.
“This
[military support] comes to an end with the result of the elections,” said
Wojciech Przybylski, political analyst and head of Visegrad Insight think tank.
“And
there will be questions from Ukraine and its Western allies on how much
intelligence can be shared with Slovakia without the risk of leaks and of
jeopardising transportation routes,” Przybylski said.
Such
change in Slovakia’s policy, Przybylski added, will have a political impact by
breaching what has been so far a united front among European countries in supporting
Kyiv.
An
Orbanisation of Slovakia?
Fico’s
critics worry his return to power could lead Slovakia to abandon course in
other ways as well, mostly on the lines of Hungary’s Orban, who has also been
an outlier on Ukraine and often spars with the EU over the war.
Orban
congratulated Fico on Sunday with a post on X social media platform saying:
“Guess who’s back!”
“Always
good to work together with a patriot,” he added.
Hungary
also has – uniquely among EU countries – maintained close relations with Moscow
and argued against supplying arms to Ukraine or providing it with economic aid.
Fico,
who campaigned strongly against immigration in the run-up to Saturday’s
election and criticised a caretaker government for not doing more, said
re-starting border controls with Hungary would represent a top priority.
“One
of the first decisions of the government must be an order renewing border
controls with Hungary,” Fico told a news conference. “It will not be a pretty
picture,” he said, adding force would be needed on the 655km (407 miles)
border.
Przybylski
said Fico will likely push anti-immigration policies in order to appeal to the
working class who perceive migrants as a workforce competition.
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