Robert Fico has become the new Prime Minister of Slovakia. His left -wing populist party has won against the progressive liberal and oriented progressive Slovakia of almost 7 percentage points. Euronews Hungary has fallen on the streets of Bratislava to find out what the Slovaks are expected from its new government.
Robert Fico and his cabinet were appointed by President Zuzana Caputova on Wednesday. His party won 42 seats in the 150-seat parliament and formed a coalition with the centre-left HLAS and nationalist SNS parties.
Fico formed a parliamentary majority by signing a coalition government agreement with the Hlas, or Voice, party and the Slovak National Party.
Fico pledged in his campaign to end military support for Ukraine and criticized sanctions against Russia.
On the streets of Bratislava, one man told Euronews that he supports this policy.
“We don’t have money after the war in Ukraine and after Covid-19, but maybe we will have a more stable government and maybe less anger, I hope so,” he said.
Another man said he was less confident about his country’s future: “What we expect economically from the next few years is nothing good, so let’s hope it’s not as bad as it seems right now.
“Demographically speaking, hopefully, not too many educated young people will leave this country and hopefully, there won’t be any backlash in terms of human rights either.”
Fico resigned as prime minister in 2018 amid mass anti-corruption protests following the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak and his partner Martina Kusnirova.
Kuciak has come under fire for investigating links between government officials and criminal groups.
This time, Fico campaigned heavily on promises to end official Slovak military aid to Ukraine, to make foreign policy independent from EU partners and Washington, and to stop migrants trying to reach Western Europe .
Bratislava provided Ukraine with extensive humanitarian and military assistance under previous governments, including artillery and fighter aircraft.
Fico also spoke out against political liberalism, the activities of non-governmental organizations and greater rights for transgender people.
He praised neighboring Hungary’s leader Viktor Orban as a politician for defending his country’s interests and could form alliances with him where their interests are aligned.
Even as he lashed out at Brussels and the United States, Fico has repeatedly said he has no intention of removing Slovakia from the European Union or NATO military alliance.
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