A pro-Russian leader wins election in Slovakia after pledging to stop support for Ukraine

Ukraine’s ability to rely on the European Union for unequivocal support in its fight against Russia has suffered a major blow on Sunday after a pro-Kremlin figure won election in neighbouring Slovakia. 

Slovakia’s former Prime Minister Robert Fico and his SMER party came top in the country’s parliamentary election after running an anti-Ukrainian and anti-American campaign.

Fico has pledged an immediate end to Slovak military support for Ukraine and promised to block Ukraine’s NATO ambitions.

Slovakia is a member of both NATO and the European Union. If Fico manages to form a government and become the Prime Minister, he could use his mandate to try and influence EU's and NATO's policies. He has in the past campaigned against Europe’s sanctions on Russia.

But it remains unclear whether Fico will be able to form a government. With 22.9% of the vote, SMER does not have enough seats in the parliament to govern on their own.

As the leader of the biggest party, Fico will get the first chance to build a coalition. However, the liberal PS party, which came second with 17.9% of the vote, said it would do “everything it could” to prevent Fico from forming a government. PS has pledged to continue supporting Ukraine.

Its leader Michal Šimečka said he will be speaking to other parties to see if there is an opportunity to create an anti-Fico coalition.

If that happens, it wouldn’t be the first time Fico has won an election but failed to form a government. He came first in 2010, but was sidelined by a coalition formed around the then-second biggest party.