Central European support for the war in Ukraine falters with Fico's virtual victory in the Slovak legislative elections

The opposition of his Smer party to military aid to Ukraine ends up reaching the electorate against the Europeanism of Progressive Slovakia

The former prime minister sees a feasible government coalition with the social democrats of Hlas and the conservative Slovak National Party

MADRID, 1 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Former Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has all the cards to return to power for the third time after the virtual victory of his Smer (Direction) party in Saturday's legislative elections, where the rise of his party's Voice and Social Democracy (Hlas) former ally, Peter Pellegrini, would greatly facilitate the formation of a new Central European government opposed, like Hungary, to military aid to Ukraine and open to negotiation with Russia.

With 99 percent of the votes counted, Smer currently has 23.3 percent of popular support, more than five points ahead of Progressive Slovakia, the pro-European party of President Zuzana Caputova and former journalist Michal Simecka. whom the exit polls initially gave as the surprise winner. Pellegrini's Hlas has come third with 15 percent of the votes and the foreseeable junior partner of the future coalition, Andrej Danko's Slovak National Party (SNS), has obtained around almost 6 percent.

Although the Smer, Hlas and the SNS would together obtain some 79 deputies of the 150 that comprise the Slovak legislative chamber, the rampant populism exhibited by practically all of the candidates during the campaign does not at all guarantee the effective achievement of this alliance: The 18 percent achieved by Progressive Slovakia added to the 8.9 percent achieved by the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO) coalition, opposed to Fico, plus a turnaround by Hlas could take away the victory.

However, Smer's victory shows that the Slovak electorate is tired of the war in Ukraine and has preferred to heed the fundamental message conveyed by Fico: national issues are priority right now. "I would like the steak that Slovakia eats to be bigger," Fico declared on Saturday after casting his ballot at the end of a campaign in which he has promised that, if he returns to office, he will not deliver "a single bullet" to the Kiev Government.

"Peace is the only solution. I refuse to be criticized and labeled as a warmonger just for talking about peace, while those who support war and massacres are called 'peace activists.' mess," Fico proclaimed on September 6 during a rally in the city of Michalovce, near the border with Ukraine.

These messages have put the leader of Smer at the head of elections that could lead to his third term as head of the Government, a position he already held from 2006 to 2010 and repeated from 2012 to 2018, the year in which he resigned after the outbreak of protests over the murders of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova.

Kuciak, it should be remembered, was investigating the alleged links between two advisers to the Fico Government and businessmen linked by the reporter to the most powerful Italian mafia, the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta. The parliamentary immunity that Fico enjoys has prevented further investigations against him.

During his time as opposition leader, Fico has strengthened ties with another European leader opposed to military assistance to Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

If Poland's ruling Law and Justice party manages to win a third term in next month's Polish parliamentary elections, and coupled with traditional Serbian support for Moscow, central Europe could become a solid opposition front to Brussels' policy. in relation to the war in Ukraine