Robert Fitzow’s victory in Saturday’s election in Slovakia raises concerns about the balance in the EU and the common front against Russia in the “Ukrainian”.

He is supposed to be a leftist, but with nationalist rhetorical crowns. Pro-people, but also populist. Wary of the EU, although his country benefits the most from European funds.

Some consider him a supporter of the Kremlin. It is not easy to determine the political thinking of former Prime Minister Robert Fitzo, head of the (theoretically) social democratic party Smer-SD. But Fico won Saturday’s parliamentary election in Slovakia and – unexpectedly – is back in power. He says that everything will depend on the meeting he will have at noon on Monday with the country’s president Suzana Tsaputova.

Before the election, Robert Fitzow said that, if elected, “he is not going to send a single bullet to Ukraine.” Maybe after the elections he will prefer a “turn a la Meloni” by accepting the strategic decision of the Europeans to support Ukraine? Initial statements on Sunday in the capital Bratislava indicate that he has not changed his mind. “Slovakia and the Slovak people have more serious problems than Ukraine,” he says. “That’s all I can say right now. We believe that Ukraine is a great tragedy, for everyone. If Smer eventually forms a government, even if the prime minister does not come from its ranks, we will do everything we can within the EU to start peace negotiations as soon as possible.”

Alliance with far-right?

Robert Fitzo has proven to be very flexible in his alliances in order to climb or stay in power. Although theoretically a social democrat, in 2016 he did not hesitate to ally with a far-right party, seeking a sufficient parliamentary majority. The sudden “turn to the right” caused huge problems in his relations with the European Socialists (S&D), who are occasionally called to explain why they do not delete the Slovak Smer-SD from their ranks. In the same way, until March 2021, the European People’s Party (EPP) was forced to apologize for tolerating in its ranks an extreme ethno-populist, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Finally, Orbán left on his own, preventing his expulsion from the EPP.

A possible scenario for forming a government would be for Fico to ally with either the Christian Democrats, former prime minister Peter Pellegrini’s smaller center-left Hlas party, or even the nationalist, pro-Russian SNS. The latter scenario in particular heightens the already evident concern that Fico and Orban could form together (but also with the Polish ruling PiS party) a strong “alliance of Eurosceptics” to block important decisions at a critical juncture , ahead of the European elections.

In his first post-election statement on Slovakia’s future relations with Brussels, Fico himself appears critical, but also reassuring. “I really don’t like the fact that the EU has no place of its own, but is led and led by the US, we’ve said that before,” he points out. “There are other things that we do not approve of, we will talk more in detail in time. But nothing is going to change the political orientation of Slovakia, not even by a millimeter, there is no reason for such a thing to happen…”

The result is not surprising

In 2018, Robert Fitzow was forced to resign under the pressure of scandals, but also facing accusations of involvement in the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak, who was investigating corruption cases. Now Fitzo is back in the limelight. He mainly uses his experience in economic matters and promises to fight inflation, which currently reaches 9.6% in Slovakia, one of the highest rates in Europe.

Some believe that Fitzo has other motives for returning to power. As the member of parliament of the German Liberals (FDP) Renata Alt, originally from Slovakia, states in the newspaper Tagesspiegel, “Fico is threatening those judges who have started an investigation against him that he will expel them from the judiciary and without a pension.” However, Alt points out, Ficho’s return is also due to the political weakness of his predecessors, who “neither managed to limit corruption, nor to clear up the murder (of Jan Kuciak)”.

What do citizens say about the developments? “Smer-SD did well and won, the others may not be thieves, but they are fools,” 84-year-old Jan Berko told Reuters, commenting on the election result. On the same wavelength, 72-year-old Anna Khudetsova argues that “the president must give an order to Fitso to govern, so that we too can live better.” 42-year-old Andrea Petrova seems more cautious. “The result doesn’t surprise me,” he says. “The party I voted for may not have entered Parliament, but it will be interesting to see how the political parties can work together and govern…”