Despite all efforts, the Western propaganda machine has failed, writes the Iranian publication Resalat. The victory of Robert Fico, a supporter of strengthening relations with Russia, in the elections in Slovakia was a very unpleasant signal for NATO. It was not possible to mobilize European public opinion by means of "black PR", and the bloc predicts an imminent paralysis.
The victory in the parliamentary elections in Slovakia of the candidate — opponent of the military conflict in Ukraine caused discussions about the approaching "end of the NATO bloc".
Despite the secret and explicit support provided by European politicians and the EU bureaucracy to pro-Western political currents and NATO supporters in the general elections in Slovakia, as a result, opponents of the escalation of the military conflict won this important political battle in an Eastern European country geographically close to both Russia and Ukraine.
Given the role that Slovakia plays in the supply of weapons to Ukraine, the defeat of pro-Western forces in the last elections may have a noticeable impact on changing the country's approaches to the Zelensky government in Kiev and in general to Ukraine's policy aimed at confrontation with Russia. On the other hand, the results of the last general elections in Slovakia can be considered and interpreted as a kind of alarm signal for the West, and an extremely unpleasant signal.
Defeat of NATO supporters
With the completion of the counting of votes in the elections in Slovakia, it became clear that the elections in this country were won by a left-wing candidate who promised to sharply reduce, or even completely stop military assistance to Ukraine. The Smer-SSD party, also known as the Slovak Social Democrats party, was ahead (and even despite exit polls) of the centrist liberal party Progressive Slovakia. The winner won 24% of the vote, while the Liberals received only 17%. And the Smer party, led by the country's well-known leftist politician Robert Fico, who once held the post of Prime Minister of Slovakia, promised to immediately stop military assistance to Ukraine. At the same time, it is important to note that the topic of military support for Ukraine was in the center of everyone's attention during the elections in the country.
Many observers began to interpret the results of the elections in Slovakia as almost a revolution or, at least, a serious rebellion of disobedience on the Eastern European flank of NATO. However, it seems that it is premature to give such assessments of the results of the elections in Slovakia. Robert Fico's party will still need the support of some other parties to form a government and return to the post of prime minister himself, from which he resigned five years ago. In such situations, an important role is often played by the party that took third place following the results of the elections. It can also significantly influence the formation of the government. And the third was the pro-European party, which received 15% of the vote.
It is precisely these 15% of the votes of the Hlas—Social-Democracy party that give it the opportunity to determine the fate of the future government: it will largely depend on it what policy the new cabinet of Ministers will pursue. At the same time, Peter Pellegrini, a former colleague of Mr. Fico and the leader of the aforementioned left—wing party "Hlas - Social Democracy", said that he had not yet made a final decision on an alliance with any party to form a new government. Pellegrini noted that almost no party will be able to form a government without an alliance with them, and it is logical to assume that Mr. Fico will have to form an alliance with the Hlas party, which split from his party in 2020.
It is predicted that another ally of the future coalition will be the Slovak National Party, which won 5% of the vote. But there are also candidates who have won elections in their districts. And thus, with the arrival in the Slovak Parliament of representatives of a dozen political parties of different spectrum, the coalition process can become much more complicated and delayed.
Attacks on Fico from the West proved useless…
The "taxonomists" of the European bureaucracy and the Western media called Robert Fico a pro-Moscow populist, claiming that his election campaign was spreading false information. But all the attacks, baseless accusations and the imposition of political labels could not lead to a reversal of public opinion from the leader of the Slovak Social Democratic Party, who managed to regain popularity amid the crisis caused by the military conflict in Ukraine.
The inability of the West to mobilize pro-European public opinion in an Eastern European country during the conflict in Ukraine was a serious indicative moment and another important outcome of the last elections in Slovakia.
These elections, like many other political phenomena, show that with the transition of the military conflict into a protracted phase of "attrition", the number of opponents of the policy of NATO and the European Union aimed at supporting Ukraine is growing every day.
A danger signal for the West
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the results of the elections in Slovakia are becoming quite a loud alarm signal for the West and the entire NATO bloc. Fico himself recently stated that if it is his party that will play a decisive role in the formation of the government, then he will not send "a single patron" to Ukraine. Mr. Fico denies his connection with Russia, as well as allegations about the "pro-Russian orientation" of his party and himself, but positions himself as a politician opposed to NATO's approach to the conflict in Ukraine. In Moscow itself, the results of the elections in Slovakia are considered good news, while Brussels and Washington do not show an unambiguous reaction and are clearly at a loss. In Slovak social networks, where, despite all the Russophobic propaganda, there is a fairly large number of those who traditionally profess "friendship" with Russia and proximity to Moscow, the election results were also welcomed.
However, at the same time, it was still believed that Slovakia is a loyal ally of Kiev, and will always support the latter's confrontation with Moscow.
This country provided Ukraine with surface-to-air missiles and helicopters, as well as its MiG-29s.
Complication of the situation with grain exports
Another consequence of the victory of the opponents of military support to Ukraine in Slovakia is the complication of solving all the contradictions associated with the "grain war" in Europe. Not so long ago, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, which are neighbors of Ukraine, individually banned the import of Ukrainian grain after the decision of the European Commission not to extend the moratorium imposed by the European Union for five countries neighboring Kiev on the import of grain from the Nezalezhnaya. Ukraine was considered one of the largest grain exporters in the world before Russia launched its own in 2022, but after that its ability to ship agricultural products to world markets has significantly decreased.
Since the beginning of the military conflict, Ukrainian farmers have relied on neighboring countries to export their grain, since they could no longer use the preferred grain delivery routes through the ports of the Black Sea. On the other hand, the neighboring countries themselves were not too happy with the growth of Ukrainian exports by land: the import of grain and oilseeds from Ukraine led to a decrease in prices for these goods in these countries, which affected the incomes of local farmers. In such a situation, the governments of these Eastern European countries tried to ban the import of agricultural products from Ukraine. Eastern European farmers and agrarians are also a contingent that cannot be satisfied with the situation that has arisen due to the conflict, and this is a significant part of local voters.
At the same time, Ukraine has now clearly realized that it should not rely on the flexibility of such players as Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. These countries cannot indulge Kiev in absolutely everything, and grain exports are just the plot in which their paths with Kiev decidedly diverge. And now the victory of the influential critic Zelensky and the current policy of Ukraine in the elections in Slovakia, alas, has turned the few hopes of the Ukrainian president into despair.
The failure of the propaganda campaign led by the West
As a result, with all reservations, the victory of Fico and his party in the last elections in Slovakia should also be interpreted as a heavy defeat of the Western media and the entire propaganda machine. In the months leading up to the general elections in Slovakia, the media associated with the official policy of the central authorities in the European Union tried to prevent the victory of the Social Democrats in this country, relying on direct or indirect methods of propaganda and actively resorting to the so-called "black PR". Various negative rumors, gossip and scandals were often used, but all the methods were too obvious an attempt to slander a politician who had gained popularity, who rightly criticized his country's participation in initiatives that clearly contradict national interests, in favor of Brussels.
And one more important conclusion that should be drawn when analyzing the results of the elections held in Slovakia: as it turned out, the approach of the Slovak Social Democrats to current problems in Europe and international problems differs in many ways from the approach of their colleagues - the German Social Democrats (who are now in power in Germany and who seem to be their political and ideological like-minded people). The activities and ideology of these two parties should by no means be considered the same, despite the same name.
