«Slovakia will not supply Ukraine with any more bullets and will veto Kiev’s accession to NATO», Robert Fico, leader of the Direction — Social Democracy party, promised during the election campaign. And on this wave, his political association took the first place in the parliamentary elections, which were held on September 30.
President Zuzana Caputova instructed the winner to form a government, for which the constitution gives 14 days. And, by the way, she defiantly did not approve another military aid package for Ukraine proposed by the outgoing cabinet. Ignoring the Smer-SD’s position on the Ukrainian issue, in her opinion, «would have set an unfortunate precedent for the future».
Thus, Slovakia has every chance to become the first country in the European Union and NATO that is expected to take an openly anti-Ukrainian position.
The agreement on the creation of a government coalition was signed right on time. It includes two parties positioning themselves as social-democratic — Direction — Social Democracy (Smer-SD) and Voice — Social Democracy (Hlas-SD), as well as the right-wing Slovak National Party (SNS).
Smer-SD will get the post of prime minister (Robert Fico will become prime minister) and six key ministerial portfolios (Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Education, Justice, Agriculture, Finance)… Hlas-SD will delegate its representative to the post of parliament speaker (Peter Pellegrini) plus seven cabinet seats. SNS will be represented by three ministers.
To win, the coalition needed to get at least 76 seats out of 150 in the National Council. It managed to cobble together a group of 79 deputies (Smer — 42, Hlas -27, SNS — 10).
Objectively speaking, it is difficult to call the coalition super-stable. But it is quite enough for a change of course.
In fact, Slovakia has a unique political landscape for the European Union. The Smer party, although it is listed as a social-democratic force, is not a pure social-democratic one. For example, in Germany, the SPD, Chancellor Scholz’s party, would never have allied with the far-right, nationalist Alternative for Germany.
But in Bratislava — ok! And it is not the first time that Fico has called the SNS to «join his comrades-in-arms».
He has a special view of social-democratic (read — liberal) values. He adheres to center-left beliefs in the economy combined with a commitment to conservative views in the social sphere, he consistently advocates limiting the flow of migration and is categorically against allowing the “rainbow LGBT agenda» into the public space.
Let me remind you that in 2006, the Party of European Socialists (PES), which sits in the European Parliament, suspended Smer’s membership in its ranks for two years. The reason was cooperation with the same nationalist SNS. Now the “Euro comrades” are threatening again. This time because of the refusal to support Ukraine with weapons.
«It’s really beautiful and democratic. Either we say what the US wants, or they will kick us out. The PES chairman has rigorously adhered to the philosophy that whoever is in favor of peace is a warmonger and whoever is in favor of war and killing is a fighter for peace…. Blackmailing an independent politician is wrong. If exclusion from the Party of European Socialists would be the price for realizing a truly leftist agenda in Slovakia and expressing sovereign opinions, we are ready to pay such a price», Fico said.
In fact, the current coalition is an association of ambitious «exes». Judge for yourself: Fiсo has already headed the cabinet three times. Pellegrini, whose party emerged in 2020 after splitting from Smer, has also served as head of government and legislative assembly. Andrej Danko, leader of the SNS, has served as speaker of the National Council (parliament). How will they get along under one roof?
There are publications in Russian media, where «Fico’s coalition» is called almost “pro-Russian”. This is, of course, not true. It is no coincidence that Robert himself has been nicknamed «the second Orban» in the West. Like the Hungarian prime minister, he builds his line on the basis of national interests. According to him, the main goal of the coalition is to improve the living standards of Slovaks. If anti-Russian sanctions harm this process, he intends to criticize them.
In fact, all parties represented in the new government have the European Union and NATO as their priority. This, by the way, is fixed in the coalition agreement.
But there are nuances.
For example, when Smer comes to power, a serious geopolitical problem arises. It is about the loyalty to certain decisions of Brussels among the members of the regional Visegrad Group (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic). If the ruling Law and Justice party in Warsaw stays in office for a third term (parliamentary elections on October 15), the three members of the most important association for the European Union may get together and become a constant headache for European officials. This will no longer be the opinion of individual representatives, but of the Visegrad Group plus one. The Czech Republic, led by a former NATO general, President Petr Pavel, will find itself on the offside.
The same Pellegrini, as prime minister, visited Moscow in 2019, where he met with then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
«The Russian Federation is one of the most important economic, trade partners for Slovakia, and we see great potential in our economic and trade relations», he said.
In the same year, Andrej Danko traveled to the Russian capital as speaker of parliament to attend the Victory Parade on May 9.
«I will always fight for European nations to have contacts with the Russian Federation. I will always say that the existing sanctions are a great folly. I hope that relations between Europe and Russia will improve in the near future», he promised.
Since then, as they say, much water has flowed. The Ukrainian crisis and Western do-gooders have surely adjusted their attitude towards Moscow to some extent. But the old and the good, as we know, are not forgotten.