Populist Fico, skeptical of Ukraine war, tops Slovakia vote

A conservative populist party critical of NATO’s support for Ukraine in its war with Russia emerged as the top vote-getter in Slovakia’s national elections Saturday.

Former Prime Minister Robert Fico and his Smer party are still not guaranteed of heading a new government as voters in the Eastern European nation spread their votes among a string of parties, with the pro-Ukraine Progressive Slovakia Party at just under 18%, just 5 percentage points behind Smer’s 23% in the preliminary tally.

But Slovak President Zuzana Caputova confirmed Sunday she will give Mr. Fico the first crack at assembling a new coalition government, and Smer officials were saying a new government could be in power in Bratislava by the middle of this month.

A total of seven parties won seats in the next Parliament, though a far-right party fell short.

Mr. Fico’s first-place finish is the latest sign that the once-unquestioned backing for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in February 2022 is beginning to wear on electorates in NATO countries. The Slovak vote came on the same day that skepticism about the price tag of Ukrainian aid forced the U.S. Congress to strip money for Kyiv from the final spending package that avoided a government shutdown in Washington.

Mr. Fico, who previously served as prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018, has said he wants to end the country’s military aid to Ukraine and favors immediate peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

He has said his party would support humanitarian and reconstruction aid for Ukraine but that no more military assistance should be provided. Slovakia’s current government has been a close ally of Kyiv, delivering weapons, ammunition and de-mining equipment, and offering to train Ukrainian forces.

A social conservative who has also campaigned against gay rights, Mr. Fico is seen as part of the same EU-skeptical movement that includes Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and leading figures in Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party.

Mr. Orban, who has clashed repeatedly with the leaders of both NATO and the EU in recent years, was quick to hail the result in Slovakia.

“Guess who’s back!” he wrote on social media Sunday. “Congratulations to Robert Fico on his undisputable victory at the Slovak parliamentary elections. Always good to work together with a patriot. Looking forward to it!”

Mr. Fico, whose party has traditionally enjoyed warm ties with Russia, was helped by the unpopularity of the current center-right coalition, which is dealing with a rising government debt crisis, a troubled health care system, the Eurozone’s highest inflation rate at 10%, and popular fears that unchecked migration is threatening the character of a small nation of 5.5 million inhabitants.

With the vote so divided, Mr. Fico and Smer are not guaranteed to head the next coalition government. Michal Simecka of the Progressive Slovakia Party insisted there was still a good chance his party’s agenda would triumph in the party negotiations to come.

“It remains our aim for Slovakia to have after this election a stable pro-European government that will care for the rule of law and which begins to solve and invest into areas key for our future,” Mr. Simecka told supporters in Bratislava after the vote, according to the Reuters news agency.

Still, Smer will get the first crack at forming the next government, and the third-place finisher in the vote, the conservative Hlas (“Voice”) party, has ties to Mr. Fico and is said to favor an alliance with him.

Analysts said a three-party conservative alliance, including the pro-Russian Slovak National Party, would already command a parliamentary majority.

Mr. Fico, whose previous government collapsed in scandal in the wake of the murder of an investigative journalist, says he looks forward to another term in power in Bratislava.

“We’re here, we’re ready, we’ve learned something, we’re more experienced,” he told supporters.

Despite holding out hope ahead of the coming party negotiations, Mr. Simecka acknowledged that Saturday’s results were a disappointment after polls showed his party apparently surging in the final days.

“It’s bad news for Slovakia,” he acknowledged. “And it would be even worse if Robert Fico manages to create a government.”

• This article is based in part on wire service reports.