Election day in Slovakia: Fico could become the prime minister, and he promised to block arms shipments to Ukraine

Today, on September 30th, early parliamentary elections are taking place in Slovakia.

According to polls, the opposition party SMER could win in parliament. Its leader, Robert Fico, demands the cessation of military aid to Ukraine and opposes its entry into NATO. Fico alleges that the European Union has become a puppet in the hands of the United States and accuses the president of anti-Slovak collusion with George Soros.

Following the elections, he could become the prime minister (he has already held this position twice). However, for this to happen, Fico must actually win the elections. According to several polls, his main competitor, the pro-European party “Progressive Slovakia,” has recently caught up with SMER.

There is also a significant percentage of the electorate that has not yet decided who to vote for. Experts believe that this undecided portion will determine the election outcome.

In the Slovak elections, 25 political parties and movements, including one coalition, are participating, representing approximately 4.3 million citizens with voting rights. According to Slovak rules, parliamentary deputies are elected directly from party lists. Parties running in the elections must receive at least 5% of the votes cast, while coalitions must obtain at least 7% of the seats in parliament. Those who surpass this threshold distribute seats proportionally.

Voters across the country can cast their ballots at approximately six thousand polling stations from 7 AM to 10 PM. In the current elections, approximately 185,000 first-time voters, young people who have not had the opportunity to participate in parliamentary elections before, are eligible to vote. About 73,000 citizens have applied for the possibility to vote by mail from abroad. By noon on Friday, more than 58,000 of them had voted, which is considered a record. These parliamentary elections in Slovakia will be the first where local electoral commissions are required to collect votes electronically and transmit the results in this manner.