In a recent election in Slovakia, former Prime Minister Robert Fico secured victory, potentially posing a challenge to Western unity. Fico’s Smer party garnered 22.9% of the vote, surpassing the main rival party, Progressive Slovakia, which secured 18%, according to the Statistics Office, with 99.9% of voting districts reporting.
This victory adds to the growing influence of nationalist and populist movements in Europe, which have capitalized on voter frustration over the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising living costs in the region, and weariness regarding the conflict in Ukraine.
Fico, the dominant political figure in Slovakia since the fall of communism, sought a fourth term with promises of increased social spending and a willingness to challenge EU policies on matters such as migration, security, and climate.
He had previously resigned in 2018 following public outrage over the killing of an investigative journalist probing corruption in Slovakia.
While Fico may need to form a coalition government, he has the opportunity to do so with several smaller parties. The election results indicate that seven parties will enter Slovakia’s 150-seat parliament. Progressive Slovakia also has a chance to form a four-party coalition, but Fico’s party, as the leading vote-getter, will have the first opportunity to do so.
An ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Fico, aged 59, tapped into the concerns of an electorate that is relatively pro-Russian within the European Union. His campaign was aided by a social media effort that included the spread of some false claims, making the election a test case for new EU legislation aimed at curbing the dissemination of illegal or harmful online content.
Slovakia has a history of political instability and fractious coalitions, having witnessed nine governments since joining the EU in 2004. Party infighting led to the collapse of Prime Minister Eduard Heger’s cabinet late last year, a coalition that had been elected in 2020 to combat corruption.
The incoming government will need to address a growing budget deficit in Slovakia’s $115 billion economy and seek to secure up to €10 billion from financial markets next year.
Once known as a Social Democratic reformer, Fico has embraced the populist wave sweeping Europe, with positions that include opposing asylum seekers, resisting Ukraine’s NATO aspirations, and criticizing Slovakia’s reformist president, Zuzana Caputova, as an “American agent.”
Source: with agencies