Former Prime Minister Robert Fico and his pro-Russian SMER-SSD party won 23% of the vote and thus won the parliamentary elections on 30 September . Fico, echoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has signalled a willingness to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but opposes military support. In light of the election results, Slovakia’s interim government has decided to withhold further military aid to Kiev. Coalition talks involving parties opposed to such aid are beginning, which could change Slovakia’s stance on the Ukrainian-Russian conflict. Domestic issues such as rising energy prices also come to the fore. The direction taken by the future governing coalition will determine Slovakia’s relations with the European Union.
