Smer’s “left sovereigntists” won early elections in Slovakia. Former pro-Russian prime minister Robert Fico’s Social Democratic party won nearly 23% of the vote, while the centrists of Progresívne Slovensko (Progressive Slovakia, abbreviated as PS), led by Michal Šimečka, garnered just under 18%. In third place was Peter Pellegrini’s Hlas-Sd party, which collected approximately 14% of the votes and is poised to be the turning point in the formation of the new government. With Igor Matovič’s OĽaNO party in fourth place with around 9%. Voter turnout was approximately 68 percent.
The Hlas leader has so far kept all hypotheses open by refusing to say which party he will support after the vote, but in Slovakia he is believed to be more inclined to ally with Smer rather than join forces with Progressive Slovakia’s liberals (leader Peter Pellegrini said Fico is in Smer was his assistant). However, it will not be easy for Fico’s Smer party to form a coalition with a sufficient majority to control Parliament.
Exit polls suggested it would likely be a head-to-head contest with centrist party Progresívne Slovensko, but Robert Fico ultimately came out on top by a sizeable margin. The 59-year-old leader of Smer was prime minister of Slovakia twice, from July 2006 to July 2010 and from April 2012 to March 2018. His party is anti-liberal on economics and conservative on women’s rights. minorities. So much so that Fico promised during the election campaign to stop military aid to Ukraine (Slovakia will no longer “send a single munition”) and called them “a nation of Nazis and fascists.” More conservative than socialist on rights, Fico ran a highly vocal campaign against LGBTQ+ rights. Returning to his stance on Kiev, Fico (read Fitso) criticized sanctions against Russia and opposed Ukraine’s membership in NATO. Slovakia sent aircraft, S-300 air defense systems and howitzer artillery to Kiev throughout the 19-month war. After Orban’s Hungary, another EU country is preparing to “challenge” the Union’s support policy for Ukraine.
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Source: Today IT

Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.