Another Orbán may be coming to power in Central Europe, with serious consequences for NATO and the European Union:
A party headed by a pro-Kremlin figure came out top after securing more votes than expected in an election in Slovakia, preliminary results show, in what could pose a challenge to NATO and EU unity on Ukraine.
According to preliminary results released by Slovakia’s Statistical Office at 9 a.m. local time, Robert Fico’s populist SMER party won 22.9% of the vote.
Progressive Slovakia (PS), a liberal and pro-Ukrainian party won 17.9%.
Fico, a two-time former prime minister, now has a chance to regain the job but must first seek coalition partners as his party did not secure a big enough share of the vote to govern on its own.
The moderate-left Hlas party, led by a former SMER member and formed as an offshoot of SMER following internal disputes, came third with 14.7% of the vote, and could play kingmaker.
With seven political parties reaching the 5% threshold needed to enter the parliament, coalition negotiations will almost certainly include multiple players and could be long and messy...
The presence of pro- Putin parties in Europe (and the Republican Party's Putin caucus) is certainly disturbing, in that it demonstrates the fragility of liberal democracies in the fight against neo- fascist movements. As for Slovakia, it's still possible that Fico's party will fail to put a government together, or if it does, that it won't last long (this would be the fifth prime minister in four years). That's slim hope, but hope nonetheless.
(Photo: What a Putin pal looks like / Vladimir Simicek, AFP/Getty Images)
