Last month saw Robert Fico’s populist Smer-SSD party emerge victorious in Slovakia’s parliamentary elections. Their campaign featured pledges to halt support to Ukraine’s military efforts, although they strenuously denied leaning towards Russian interests.
Fico, who has previously held the prime minister’s mantle in Slovakia, formalized a coalition government on Wednesday, joining forces with Hlas, a centre-left party, and the nationalist SNS party. This alliance ensures their control over 79 seats in Slovakia’s 150-seat parliament.
The strategy for filling ministerial positions to establish their new government, under Fico’s leadership, remains undisclosed. Nonetheless, it is developing clear that a principal objective would be to withdraw Slovakia’s support to Kyiv.
During his election campaign, Fico asserted openly to his supporters that, “If Smer enters government, we will not send a single round of ammunition to Ukraine.” These statements, alongside his vows to combat Western sanctions against Russia, have sparked parallels between Fico and Hungary’s populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The SNS party, under Andrej Danko’s leadership, is known to hold congruent views regarding Ukraine’s war situation. Previously, Danko has indicated certain Russian-claimed territories did not hold historical Ukrainian roots and maintains a reputed friendship with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Fico intends to address migration during his term – a particular concern for Slovakia acting as a conduit for migrant flow into Western Europe.
Progressive Slovakia, the party which came second in the election, has promoted a liberal perspective towards issues like green policies and LGBTQ+ rights within the EU. However, Fico’s Smer has rejected this as “liberal fascism,” opting instead to campaign for stability, order, and social security.
Hlas leader Peter Pellegrini has pledged that Slovakia’s foreign policies would remain aligned with its NATO and EU memberships within any coalition government he is part of. “If the government tries to change that, Hlas will leave,” he declared ahead of signing the coalition agreement.
The specifics regarding the coalition agreement are still under wraps, but Fico assured it would be presented to President Zuzana Čaputová “in a short time.”
Fico’s previous tenure as Slovakia’s prime minister was cut short in 2018 following the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak.
