In Slovakia, the pro-European, liberal party Progresívne Slovensko (PS) appears to have won the European elections. According to preliminary results, the party won six of the 15 Slovak seats. PS is the largest opposition party in the Slovak parliament, having become the second strongest party in the parliamentary elections last September. Its leading candidate is the former, short-term Prime Minister Ľudovít Ódor. The 47-year-old economist led a government of experts for a good five months last year. Before that, he was vice-governor of the Slovak National Bank. He campaigned for PS with the slogan “You can’t have it all”.
The Slovaks voted on Saturday, which was their third election in ten months. The election campaign had been going on almost continuously for about a year, so voters were expected to be tired. Nevertheless, voter turnout was high by Slovak standards at more than 34 percent; five years ago, only just under 23 percent had cast their votes.
It is still unclear which faction Fico’s party will belong to
The presidential election took place in Slovakia at the beginning of April. With a high voter turnout, the government candidate, Peter Pellegrini, won. He will take office on June 15. The parliamentary election was won by Prime Minister Robert Fico’s Smer party with just under 23 percent of the vote. He governs in a three-party coalition with the left-wing populist Hlas, founded by Pellegrini, and the right-wing nationalist SNS. Pro-Russian conspiracy ideologists and candidates with fascist and right-wing extremist views also ran for the SNS. Because of this cooperation with the SNS The Socialist Group in the European Parliament had expelled Smer and Hlas from its group.
It is not yet clear where Fico’s Smer party and Hlas will find a new home in the European Parliament. According to the preliminary results, Fico’s party won five seats, Hlas one; the coalition partner SNS none at all. Surprisingly, the right-wing extremist Republika, which is not represented in the Slovak parliament, won two seats. Republika and the Polish right-wing extremist Konfederacja supported each other during the election campaign. “Together we will stop dangerous liberalism,” says the Republika website. People should not believe “the lies” that “we are isolated.” They will stick together in Brussels and form a new group. The chairman of Republika, 39-year-old Milan Uhrík, who holds a doctorate in engineering, is already a member of the European Parliament – currently without a parliamentary group.
The Prime Minister portrays Slovakia as a state that must fight for sovereignty
Just like Republika, the Smer party, formerly known as the Social Democratic Party, also campaigns to bring “peace to Europe”. Smer’s election manifesto states that it wants to be the “extended arm of Robert Fico’s government in Europe”. And further: “We reject the attempt to turn the EU into a war organisation.” Prime Minister Fico is increasingly exposed to “attacks from Brussels warmongers” because he does not want to supply weapons to Ukraine.
Three weeks after the assassination attempt on him, in which he was injured by several shots, Robert Fico addressed the population with a video last Thursday. In it, he portrayed Slovakia as a state that had to fight for its sovereignty and was being attacked and ostracized by the EU Commission, NATO and “larger democracies” because it had its own opinion on the war in Ukraine. Fico counts “anti-government media”, “NGOs paid from abroad” and the opposition party Progresívne Slovesko among its internal enemies – whose members are called “traitors to the fatherland” in the Smer election manifesto.
The right-wing extremist Milan Uhrík had also campaigned for votes in the neighboring Czech Republic, where many Slovaks live. Uhrík attacked the center-right government in Prague and the Czech President Petr Pavel. In recent months, the Czech Republic has distinguished itself with its initiative to procure ammunition for Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia. Voting took place in the Czech Republic on Friday and Saturday. However, no forecasts or preliminary results were announced. According to one estimate, voter turnout could have been more than 30 percent, which would at least be more than in 2019.
In the polls before the election, the ANO party of former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš was ahead. It is currently part of the liberal Renew faction in Brussels, but this could now change. Babiš presents himself as an ally of the Slovak government and supported Pellegrini in the presidential election campaign. The second strongest force in the polls was the Spolu electoral alliance, to which the ODS party of the conservative Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala belongs.