Following victory in last October's parliamentary elections, a faction led by Prime Minister Roberto Fico has regained the Slovak presidency. In the April 6 runoff, pro-government candidate Peter Pellegrini won 53% of the vote, clearly defeating his liberal opponent.
SMER, led by Fico, is part of the social democratic Socialist International, but has a right-wing populist stance, following mass protests over the brutal murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiance in 2018. He lost power in .
Pellegrini's electoral success is a distorted expression of the broader rejection of the EU's ever-escalating war against Russia. With an unusually high turnout of 61 percent, 1.4 million Slovaks voted for Mr. Pellegrini. In 1999, only Slovakia's first directly elected president, Rudolf Schuster, received more votes.
In Slovakia, the president has mainly representative duties. But he can appoint ministers as he sees fit, as current president Zuzana Čaputova did after the collapse of Eduard Heger's government last year.
In the first round of the presidential election in March, independent Ivan Kolchok won with about 42% of the vote. Mr Pellegrini had 37%. During the election campaign, Korczok, who ran as a candidate from the right-wing liberal opposition party, promised to form a opposition to Prime Minister Fico's government. Politically, the former foreign minister is a staunch supporter of the European Union. Kolchok favors a major escalation of the war against Russia in Ukraine.
This war is extremely unpopular among the Slovak population. During the war, inflation rose astronomically. As of the end of last year, food prices had increased by more than 30%. The impact is particularly pronounced in the eastern part of the country, which is plagued by poverty and unemployment. Pellegrini had a significant lead over other candidates in all border regions with Ukraine.
The result of far-right former Justice Minister Stefan Harabin, who rejects NATO and is considered extremely pro-Russian, is also a distorted expression of opposition to the war. Mr. Harabin received more than 11% of the votes in the first round, but as a former colleague of Mr. Fico, he is not trusted.
During the election campaign, Mr. Pellegrini deliberately presented himself as an opponent of the war in Ukraine and mixed this with nationalist slogans. “We will never allow Slovakia to be dragged into war,” he declared on Facebook. He has vowed not to send troops to Ukraine under his presidency. “Slovakia will always come first for me,” Pellegrini said.
Pellegrini's election victory sparked outrage in Germany and the European Union. The warmongers in Berlin and Brussels are only supporting “democracy” as long as voters vote for the candidates they like.
Norbert Roetgen, a foreign policy expert from the Christian Democratic Party (CDU), accused Pellegrini and Fico of openly aligning themselves with President Vladimir Putin. This, he said, was at odds with EU membership, as was the attitude of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is “Putin's Trojan horse in the EU”. “The EU must not and cannot continue to tolerate this,” Roettgen said. Funke Mediengruppe. Anyone who sided with the invaders did not belong to the EU.
Notorious warmonger Green MEP Anton Hofreiter called for “the Slovak government to receive clear warning signals from Berlin and Brussels.” If Mr. Fico and Mr. Pellegrini “threw an ax to Slovakia's rule of law and opened the floodgates to corruption, no more money will flow from the EU.”
Of course, figures like Roettgen and Hofreiter know that Pellegrini and Fico cannot go too far in their opposition to the EU. Like Hungary, the country is economically dependent on the EU. The reason Mr. Roettgen and Mr. Hoffreiter are reacting so aggressively is because their pro-war policy has met with widespread resistance among the public. They demand that the Slovak government do everything in its power to crush this resistance rather than adapt to it.
Pellegrini was never an opponent of war. His Fras party has been in power since October last year, along with Fico's Smail and the radical right-wing SNS. Fico won parliamentary elections on a promise not to give Ukraine “a bullet” and to negotiate peace with Russia.
But these were just empty words. His anti-war rhetoric has only served to mask his far-right policies, which have so far been largely well-received in the EU.
In a meeting with Ukraine's head of government, Denis Shmyhal, in Bratislava last week, Fico expressed his full support for his neighbor. “Russia's use of military force in Ukraine is a clear violation of international law,” he said at a joint press conference, adding that Ukraine needs support and solidarity. “We are here to help.” added.
Mr. Schmihal confirmed the political agreement. He praised the “constructive talks”. Slovakia “stands firmly on Ukraine's side” and condemns Russia's aggression.
Fico promised during the election campaign that “not a single bullet” would cross the border, but also promised more arms from Slovak companies. He also acquiesced in cooperation in weapons production. Slovak companies will also take part in rebuilding Ukraine's destroyed infrastructure, with plans to connect the eastern Slovakian city of Kosice with the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, by rail.
After his election victory, Pellegrini immediately sought to dispel concerns that he would go against the political will of Brussels and Berlin, saying he was firmly committed to NATO and the EU.
The 48-year-old is a political disciple of Fico and served as prime minister for two years from 2018 to 2020. The split between his parties, Fras and Smer, was not due to political differences. After Fico was forced to resign on corruption charges following Kuciak's murder, Pellegrini left the party in 2020, believing he had a better chance.
Both Mr. Fico and Mr. Pellegrini advocate far-right policies towards refugees and migrants, favoring a significant increase in state power within the country and the rearmament of the military, to be financed by radical austerity measures. become. To this end, 30 percent of the country's public sector costs are to be reduced. Furthermore, significant tax increases are also planned. The country's budget deficit is expected to rise to 6.3% this year.
To suppress domestic opposition, the Slovak government followed Hungary's example and introduced widespread attacks on press freedom and the judicial system. Fico has already replaced the leadership of police and other authorities. He also seeks to take complete control of state media and suppress critical media.
