Robert Fico, who promised to fight Brussels, will govern Slovakia

Kingmaker Peter Pellegrini, leader of the Smer-defector party Hlas, has announced he will pursue a coalition with Smer and the nationalists, and future Prime Minister Robert Fico promised to stop all military aid to Ukraine and vowed to ‘”fight Brussels’ if he governs again.

“We will guarantee that Slovakia’s membership in the EU and NATO will not be jeopardised,“ Pellegrini said during a press conference, adding that if any moves were made to change Slovakia’s foreign policy direction, his party would leave the government.

Smer called for a re-evaluation of EU’s sanctions against Russia for their “efficacy”, mirroring the language of Viktor Orbán, who has been using his veto in the Council to get concessions from other member states and the Commission.

Smer has also promised to “standardise” Slovakia’s relations with Russia and pursue “good friendly and economically mutually beneficial relations“ with all countries.

Regarding EU policies, Smer wants to support the EU’s green ambitions only if they will not drastically jeopardise the EU’s competitiveness and lead to a reduction in the standard of living of EU citizens and is planning to prioritise Slovakia’s “national interests“ in EU’s migration policy.

Smer is a member of the Party of European Socialists (PES), which said that a coalition with far-right SNS would have ramifications. Pellegrini’s party, Hlas is currently an Associate party of PES.

“We have an advantage over Smer in that they can’t kick us out because they haven’t accepted us yet,” said Pellegrini, but said the international standing of his party is significant and said he is convinced that all three coalition members will declare pro-European direction and that Europe “need not worry”.

Pellegrini explained his decision as the result of a unanimous vote of the Hlas presidency. He cited likely ideological problems between a coalition of liberal Progressive Slovakia and the conservative Christian Democrat party, as well as changing positions and public statements made by potential members of a progressive government, as the main reason.

Leader of Progressive Slovakia Michal Šimečka called it “excuses” and claimed that Pellegrini had decided for Fico from the start, alleging that “stronger interests” were binding them.

Pellegrini rejected that his decision could be driven by the desire to stop ongoing corruption investigations, which started after Smer left the government in 2020. Around 130 people were investigated, and more than 40 people were convicted in politically sensitive cases from the Smer era, according to Denník N.

There are testimonies alleging Pellegrini accepted a hefty bribe, but no charges have been made. Fico said that one of the first steps in the government would be to fire Police Chief Štefan Hamran and Special Prosecutor Daniel Lipšic, who have been leading the investigations.

Pellegrini went on to say that the new government should not have two ex-PMs, likely designating himself to the position of Speaker of Parliament. The decision also means that the Slovak National Party will receive government posts.

SNS will be a radicalising element in the government, with the second-in-command Tomáš Taraba being a former member of the far-right party ĽSNS, whose leader was convicted for spreading Nazi symbolism.

Taraba’s priorities in government include restricting gender transition and helping “alternative” media. In the past, he has also attempted to lessen the penalties for misuse of EU funds. Such action could trigger the conditionality mechanism in Slovakia, as the European Public Prosecutor’s Office said this would harm the directive protecting the EU’s financial interests.

(Barbara Zmušková | Euractiv.sk)