Former Prime Minister Robert Fico wins Saturday’s election in Slovakia. One of his main claims was that close relations regarding Ukraine would end if he won, informed by Politico.
In Slovakia, with a population of 5.5 million, the leftist-populist Smer party won 23.4 percent of the vote, ahead of PS, which in its statements sought to strengthen relations with the West and build a more loyal system.
Robert Fico’s campaign has caused alarm in Europe over worries that he will erect an anti-Ukrainian one-man relationship in Slovakia with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Fico promises to take a pro-Russian stance.
Based on all this, it can be assumed that Fico will still have a good chance of returning to power thanks to the support of Hlas (it came third with 15 percent). Hlas is currently led by Peter Pellegrini, who took over as Slovakia’s leader in 2018 during the political crisis that followed the murder of investigative journalist. After Smer’s defeat in the 2020 election, Pellegrini turned his back on the party and on Fico to form Hlas with 10 defected deputies from Smer.
Pellegrini disagrees with Fico. He characterizes him by saying that he is “a politician from the past” and one who “can no longer offer Slovakia any hope or vision for the 21st century.”
Fico has a different position:
We have two parties here with the same social programme, who come from the same roots in Smer, and who know each other. So I think the basis for a successful, stable, sovereign socially-oriented government should be cooperation between Smer and Hlas.
After the results were announced at 4am on Sunday morning, Pellegrini said he expected a proposal for co-operation between him and Fico, but having two former prime ministers in the same government was disconcerting.
On the other hand, Fico’s ally could be the Slovak National Party (SNS), which drew 5.7 percent support.
Based on their election results, the three parties would control 81 seats in the legislature, good for a six-seat majority.
Also securing representation in parliament were the grassroots OĽaNO party (9.2 percent); the Christian Democrats (7 percent); and the liberal Freedom and Solidarity (5.9 percent).
What are the achievements of Progressive Slovakia? Michal Šimečka, leader of the PS, was actually unexpectedly close to win his first election as prime minister. In polls taken on Saturday night after voting ended, the PS had a slight lead over Smer, leading the former journalist, Oxford PhD and member of the European Parliament to believe he could win his first term as prime minister.
Fico’s history of public speeches is filled with completely different points of view. For instance, the August rally where he told to his supporters various kinds of things. Thus, one of them is as follows:
It was unequivocally a victory of the Red Army, and Smer will recall this history every day, every hour, every second.
He expressed a sense of gratitude to the Soviet Union for liberating the Czech and Slovak lands from Nazi Germany at the end of World War II that today’s generation should show a sense of respect.
There is also the opposite point of view. Rastislav Kacher, for example, says that Fico is not as serious as he says he is, but his populism is a big danger to the country.
“Mr Fico finds great inspiration in the Orbán style of rule, which is Putin’s model of politics,” Kačer said. “He may not even mean to do everything he is saying. He still probably thinks he can fool everyone again by whipping up populist anti-Western emotions at home, pretending rebellious courage against the EU and NATO – and then acting as if nothing happened.”
