Slovakia’s populist former prime minister, Robert Fico, has said he has reached agreement with centre-left and nationalist parties to form a three-party coalition government that could return him to office for a fourth time.
“We have agreed that we want to form a government together,” Fico said on Wednesday of the deal, which includes Hlas, a moderate breakaway party from his own Smer-SD party, and the ultra-nationalist Slovak National party (SNS).
Smer won last month’s parliamentary elections with nearly 23% of the vote, giving it 42 MPs in the 150-seat parliament. Hlas, led by Fico’s former deputy Peter Pellegrini, finished third with 27 seats and SNS won 10.
The new government is expected to scale back support for Ukraine in line with Fico’s campaign pledges to halt military aid to Slovakia’s eastern neighbour, and to move the country closer to Hungary in a further regional shift away from political liberalism.
The coalition agreement says Slovakia’s foreign policy orientation will continue to be based on its “membership of the EU, Nato, and other significant international organisations” while “fully respecting sovereignty and national interests”.
Under the agreement, Smer will appoint the prime minister and six other ministers, Hlas the parliamentary speaker and seven cabinet ministers, and SNS three ministers. Fico said he hoped to represent Slovakia at the next EU summit in late October.
“Specific names and ministries will be included in the coalition agreement,” he said. “I will present the list of ministers to the president in a short time.” It was not clear when the president, Zuzana Čaputová, might swear in the new government.
Fico backs humanitarian and reconstruction aid for Ukraine but no further military supplies, and wants the EU to force peace talks – a line similar to that of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, but rejected by Ukraine and its western allies.
Diplomats and analysts have said Fico’s past pragmatism as the head of governments between 2006 and 2010 and again from 2012 to 2018, as well as the involvement of the more moderate Hlas, could soften his line.
SNS, however, shares his virulent anti-immigration rhetoric, populist approach and pro-Russian leanings. Its leader, Andrej Danko, said in July that Russian-occupied territories were not “historically Ukrainian”.
Fico said on Wednesday that his top priority would be cutting Slovakia’s budget deficit and “protecting its sovereignty and national interests”, pledging in particular to halt the flow of illegal migration into the country.
