Preliminary results published by Slovakia’s Statistical Office early on Sunday morning showed that with more than 99% of districts counted, Fico’s SMER party has secured 23.3% of the vote. The liberal Progressive Slovakia (PS) party came second, with 17% of the vote.
According to some experts, SMER’s result is better than expected. The last opinion poll published earlier this week showed SMER and PS side-by-side, the Polish news state agency PAP noted.
As some foreign media outlets have noted, this win could potentially impact Ukraine’s situation. Since Russia invaded Ukraine last February, Slovakia, which is part of NATO, has been one of Kyiv’s allies, NBC News emphasized. Slovakia was the first country to send air defenses to Ukraine. It also welcomed tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.
However, now with the new power in charge, all that could change. It is no secret that Fico leans toward Kremlin and has even blamed “Ukrainian Nazis and fascists” for provoking Russia’s President Vladimir Putin into launching the invasion, repeating the false narrative Putin has used to justify his invasion, CNN has reported.
According to the Reuters news agency, "Fico has called on the Slovak government to stop supplying weapons to Kyiv, and said that if he were to become prime minister, Slovakia would not send another round of ammunition." He is also opposed to Ukraine joining NATO.
Robert Fico previously served as Slovakia’s prime minister for more than a decade, first between 2006 and 2010 and then again from 2012 to 2018.
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SOURCE: IAR; PAP; CNN; NBC; Reuters