Robert Fico's election win in Slovakia defies European consensus ...
Slovakia's pro-Russian and anti-liberal election winner Robert Fico is poised to begin coalition talks to form a government that is likely to join Hungary in opposing the European Union's military aid for Ukraine.
Mr Fico's SMER-SSD party scored nearly 23 per cent of Saturday's parliamentary poll, earning the president's nod to start talks to replace a government that has been backing Kyiv against Russia's invasion.
"We are not changing that we are prepared to help Ukraine in a humanitarian way," Mr Fico said.
Analysts consider Mr Fico, who has previously served as prime minister, to be inspired by Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has frequently clashed with the European Union.
"We are prepared to help with the reconstruction of the state but you know our opinion on arming Ukraine," Mr Fico said.
Mr Fico's campaign call of "Not a single round" for neighbouring Ukraine resonated in the nation of 5.5 million.
Slovakia is a member of the NATO military alliance, which is backing Ukraine against Russian President Vladimir Putin, but many of its people are sympathetic to Moscow's line that the West wants to annihilate it.
Mr Fico said Slovakia had bigger problems than the Ukraine issue, including energy prices and living costs, but his party would do everything possible to start peace talks.
Slovakia's liberal Progresívne Slovensko (PS) party came second in Saturday's vote with almost 18 per cent of votes and wants to stay the course on backing Ukraine.
Progressive Slovakia party leader Michal Simecka.(Reuters: Radovan Stoklasa)
Mr Fico may well look to the moderate leftist HLAS party, which came third with nearly 15 per cent of votes, as a partner along with the nationalist, pro-Russian Slovak National Party.
He said coalition talks could take two weeks.
HLAS leader Peter Pellegrini has said ammunition supplies to Ukraine are good for Slovakia's defence industry and the party has backed the EU stance against the invasion.
Mr Fico's record of pragmatism may mean he tones down his rhetoric going forward, analysts and diplomats say, especially in a coalition with HLAS.
Slovakia has already donated to Ukraine most of what it could from state reserves — including fighter jets — and Mr Fico has not clarified whether his party would seek to end commercial supplies from the defence industry.
Victory 'very bad news for Slovakia'A government led by Mr Fico would signal a further shift in central Europe against political liberalism, which would be reinforced if the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) wins an election in Poland later this month.
Hungary's Mr Orbán congratulated Mr Fico on Sunday with a post on X social media platform saying: "Guess who's back!"
"Always good to work together with a patriot," he said.
Mr Fico, who campaigned strongly against illegal migration in the run-up to Saturday's election and criticised a caretaker government for not doing more, said re-starting border controls with Hungary would represent a top priority.
"One of the first decisions of the government must be an order renewing border controls with Hungary," Mr Fico said.
"It will not be a pretty picture," he said, adding force would be needed on the 655-kilometre border.
The migrants, predominantly young men from the Middle East and Afghanistan, mostly come via the so-called Balkan route, entering Hungary from Serbia despite a steel fence that Mr Orban had built after the 2015 refugee crisis that rocked Europe.
Slovakia's PS party, which is liberal on green policies, LGBT rights, deeper European integration and human rights, also plans to court HLAS.
"We believe that this is very bad news for Slovakia," PS leader Michal Šimečka said of SMER-SSD's victory.
"And it would be even worse news if Robert Fico succeeds in forming a government."
Reuters
