Bratislava is littered with posters of all colors promising a “return to normality” and “the end of madness” after five years of colorful, contentious and short-lived governments. But it is very difficult for Slovakia to allow yesterday’s result the return to stable politics.
“End of weapons in Kiev”
The winner of the election is the predicted favorite: the former pro-Russian prime minister Robert Fico. His social democratic Smer party wins with 24% of the vote. His rival Michel Simecka, leader of the Slovak Progressives (PS), remains at 18%. The third is Hlas, the political force of Fico’s former party partner Peter Pellegrini, which reaches 15% and will be crucial to the formation of the new government.
Intercepted at Smer headquarters last night, the vice president of Fico’s party, Lubos BlahaHe tells Repubblica that the new government will decide “to end Slovak weapons in Ukraine.” When we object that this would mean the end of Ukraine, he replies: “it simply means not continuing the warTo”. If we ask him if Bratislava It would prevent Kiev from joining NATO, Blaha nods, “of course: it would trigger World War III.”
Negotiations for the new government
He will therefore be a key figure in the difficult negotiations for the new government pilgrimthe former prime minister who ruled the country for two years after the fall of Robert Ficowhen the Smer boss was overwhelmed by protests against the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak. But after the 2020 elections, Pellegrini left Smer to found it Hlaswhere he managed to capture a section of the more moderate social democratic electorate who had had enough of Fico’s follies and twists.
His party is third, but will undoubtedly be third the outcome of these elections. Some are even betting that he could become the next prime minister, such as if Fico decides to run for president next year. AND In any case, the next government will be fragile: Fico will have to negotiate with other parties besides Pellegrino to get the majority of seats, 76 out of 150. One hypothesis is that he comes to terms with the Slovak National Party, an ultra-right formation Anyone who has exceeded the 5% threshold can enter parliament.
The pro-Europeans
His opponent’s comeback Simecka, was definitely remarkable. Driven primarily by the young and pro-European electorate as well as Slovaks living abroad. But also accelerated by tragic news. A year ago, in October 2022, in the center of Bratislava a right-wing extremist shot from close range a Jurai Vankulic and Matus Horvath, the former guilty of being non-binary and the latter of being bisexual. An assassination attempt that set the world on fire Slovakia and which, according to Volt vice president Lucia Kletincova, “reminded us of 2018,” when journalist Jan Kuciak was killed by two hitmen and thousands of Slovaks stormed the squares for weeks to drive out Fico. Kletincova is convinced that the outrage that emerged in the following weeks has rekindled the desire for renewal that had already emerged in 2018 and that the country had seemingly buried. But judging by the result, fear and anger once again reigned in Slovakia.