Europe letter: Outcome of presidential election lifts check on Kremlin-friendly government in Slovakia
. The election of Peter Pellegrini as president at the weekend will give the Kremlin-friendly prime minister Robert Fico a free hand in pushing through his agenda, which includes paring back aid to Ukraine.
The prime minister has for many years been seen as being closer to Russia’s orbit and during the elections late last year he campaigned on challenging the EU’s unconditional support for Ukraine. His coalition government in Bratislava has talked about cutting off military aid to Ukraine, while Fico has called for peace talks to be opened with Moscow. The recent presidential election was seen as both a vote on the country’s confidence in the government as well as a poll on the war in Ukraine.
Pellegrini won a thin majority of 53.1 per cent, meaning after he is sworn in this June Fico’s coalition will control the government, the parliament and the presidency. Slovakia has a population of about 5.4 million people and shares a border with Ukraine. Anxiety about an escalation in the war played a big factor in the result, according to several observers.
Despite the tough talk from Fico since he took over as prime minister, Slovakia has not yet copied Hungary and become a disruptive force at EU level. Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban held up an EU aid package for Ukraine worth €50 billion for two months and in general has been viewed as a headache in Brussels.
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