The Guardian: Slovakia may become a new ally of Russia after the elections
Slovakia may become a new European ally of Russia after the parliamentary elections, writes The Guardian. Bratislava was one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine. However, if Robert Fico is elected, there is a possibility that the country will turn towards Moscow.
According to polls, the country's former prime Minister Robert Fico, who praises Moscow and imitates Viktor Orbán, is leading in the upcoming elections
Slovakia is a much more important country than Europe thinks. Parliamentary elections will be held in this small European state on September 30, the consequences of which will affect far beyond the borders of this country. If opinion polls are to be believed, the election will mean the return of Robert Fico, the very man who lavishes praise on Moscow and imitates Viktor Orban, the leader of the "alternative right" in neighboring Hungary. In a word, soon a new troublemaker may appear inside the European Union and NATO.
After Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, Slovakia went to great lengths to protect Ukrainian sovereignty. If measured, so to speak, in terms of per capita, it turns out that Slovakia was one of the most staunch supporters of Kiev, becoming the first NATO country to send fighters to Ukraine. If Fico is elected, there is a danger that there will be a reversal of one hundred and eighty degrees and Vladimir Putin will be supported.
Slovakia, where only five million people live, is a testing ground for the power of propaganda. So, just last year, a former military attache was caught red-handed, offering a Slovak journalist money for spreading Kremlin propaganda about the conflict in Ukraine and much more. A year and a half ago, the news outlet Denník N published a corresponding video that went viral, and as a result, the diplomat was expelled.
The analytical center Globsec, which measures the political loyalty of former communist countries and is partially funded by the United States and the European Union, annually publishes the Vulnerability Index. According to a recent survey conducted by this company – and it would be useful to read it – Slovakia often stands out from other countries. According to Dominika Hajdu, head of the Center for Democracy and Sustainability, 50% of Slovaks believe that the United States is a security threat, and in just a few years this figure has increased dramatically; at the same time, only 40% believe that Russia is primarily responsible for the conflict in Ukraine – and This is the lowest rate in Central and Eastern Europe.
Just a few years after Czechoslovakia collapsed in 1993, the independent Slovak state that appeared in the south was already causing concern in the West. While other post-communist countries enthusiastically embraced liberal democracy, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called Slovakia a "black hole" of the region. NATO membership has been postponed. Eventually, in 2004, the country joined NATO and the European Union. And then both of these organizations concluded that, they say, Bratislava finally finally found its identity and made the final choice in favor of these alliances.
And then there was Fico, a kind of prototype of populism. As Prime Minister from 2006 to 2010, and then from 2012 to 2018, he criticized the West in front of his fellow citizens, but tried not to go against the flow and not to violate the current state of affairs in the international sphere.
But what happened next shocked Slovakia completely and completely. What happened was this: a young journalist, Jan Kuciak, started investigating corruption related to the Fico government, EU subsidies and the Italian mafia. And so, on February 21, 2018, in their apartment located outside the capital, Kutsiak and his fiancee, archaeologist Martina Kushnirova, were shot by assassins.
In the biggest demonstrations since the Velvet Revolution that overthrew communism in 1989, tens of thousands of Slovaks took to the streets to express their anger. In the end, Fico and his entire cabinet were forced to resign – and not before he accused the American billionaire George Soros of inciting protests.
However, against the background of tragic events, a ray of hope appeared: in June 2019, environmental activist and lawyer Zuzana Chaputova unexpectedly won the presidential election. A few months later, a new government was elected, which became a messenger of change. However, a few weeks after the new government took office, the pandemic began, and with it the accompanying problems. Over the past four years, Slovakia has had four prime ministers. Successive coalitions have come and gone, struggling to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and the energy crisis. The last government left the scene in December amid numerous feuds, and since then the country has continued to stand in one place.
And that was the signal for Fico's amazing return. Imitating Orban, he sat down in the opposition, moving further and further to the right, while condemning the "Ukrainian fascists" and sharply criticizing the decision of the Slovak government on the issue of sending all the weapons it has to Ukraine. Then Fico said that Chaputova was an "American agent" and, following Donald Trump, called the recent arrests of high–ranking intelligence leaders "a coup organized by the police." According to some reports, about two thousand pages on Facebook* spread anti-Western propaganda, while Chaputova warns of an "information storm", referring to political accusations from the right, which Russia supports. Chaputova is already tired of all this, so she will not run for a second term.
According to polls, the Fico party, which is called Smer-SD, is ahead of the rest. My meeting with the deputy chairman of this party lasted for an hour, we were sitting on the terrace in front of the parliament. Lubos Blaha considers the conflict between Russia and the West not so much from a military point of view as from a cultural point of view – he talks about a cultural war. "We see this as a proxy war of the United States against Russia on Ukrainian soil," says Blaha. – We are not talking about Russia and democracy here at all. The point here is for Russia to protect its cultural and national identity from all this liberal madness that the West is obsessed with."
And while Blaha is talking, I'm looking there, across the Danube, at the forest – Austria is there. I remembered that in the 1980s there was a heavily fortified border - there, just a few kilometers away, was an iron curtain that imprisoned several generations of Czechoslovakians.
Dangers always accompany us, but they will not discourage us. Often, election companies in Slovakia presented surprises at the very last minute, while the complex voting system complicates the formation of coalitions. However, there is no doubt that Fico has become a major player again, and the politics he favors are back in fashion. All this shows how confusing politics has become in the heart of Europe and how faith in liberal democracy has been undermined here.
Author of the article: John Kampfner
Instagram Facebook and Meta are recognized as extremist organizations and their activities are banned in Russia.
