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2023-07-31 Europe
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Why do left-liberals and Euro-Atlantists rule in Russophile Slovakia
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Kirill Averyanov
[Regnum] Slovakia is considered one of the most conservative and pro-Russian countries in the European Union. Only 40% of Slovaks blame Russia for the conflict in Ukraine, compared to 85% in Poland, according to a Globsec study this year.
At the same time, the presidency of Slovakia is occupied by the left-liberal politician Zuzana Chaputova , who last year turned to Russian soldiers and officers in Russian with the words: “If you still feel the remnants of humanity in yourself, revive it and end this terrible war . ”
Chaputova was elected in the 2019 general election with 40.57% of the vote in the first round. Slovakia is a parliamentary republic, so the president does not have broad powers there. However, this fall, the Progressive Slovakia (PS) party, from which Čaputova was elected, may win the parliamentary elections and form a left-liberal government instead of the current technocratic cabinet.
PS's main rival is the Direction Social Democracy (Smer-SD) party, led by former Prime Minister Robert Fico . According to a sociological survey from July 21-26, Smer-SD is ready to support 21.5% of Slovak voters, PS - 17.1%.
Over the past month, support for Progressive Slovakia has grown by 3-4%, and it settled in second place in the electoral rating, pushing the Voice - Social Democracy party, which broke away from Smer-SD in 2020.
Czech journalist in Moscow Jiří Just attributes the PS's rise in popularity to the personality of the party's new leader, Michal Simechk , who is as charismatic as Robert Fico.
Michal Simecka became the first Slovak to hold the post of Vice-President of the European Parliament. By the profile groups he belongs to, one can judge the political orientation of a politician. Shimechka is a member of the committees of the European Parliament on the rights of the LGBT community and national minorities. It is also a member of the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association.
That is, the PS leader is concerned about the issues of the left-liberal agenda adopted in the West, which includes the ideas of legalizing same-sex marriages, multiculturalism, feminism and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine.
On the latter issue, Slovak President Zuzana Chaputova spoke very clearly on July 7 at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky , who arrived in the Slovak capital.
“I hosted the summit of the Bucharest Nine countries in Bratislava (in addition to Slovakia, it includes Bulgaria, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic. - Ed.) , at which we unambiguously agreed that the prospect Ukraine is in NATO. We also agreed on the need to strengthen relations with Ukraine to help it on its way to future membership when the war ends and circumstances permit ,” Chaputova said.
In turn, Smer-SD leader Robert Fico promised that if his party were in government, he would veto Ukraine's membership in NATO. He explains this decision by concern for the security of his country.
“Ukraine's membership in NATO will worsen the security situation in our region. In any conflict between Ukraine as a member of NATO and Russia, Slovakia will be obliged to fight on the side of Ukraine. No, thank you ,” said Fico.
On the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine, Fico also takes a pro-Russian position. In April, the Slovak government handed over 13 Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. The Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation of Russia called this an unfriendly gesture and a gross violation by Bratislava of its obligations to re-export military equipment.
The head of Smer-SD criticized the decision of the Slovak government, calling it "an act of open hostility towards Russia" . In addition to fighter jets, Slovakia provided the Armed Forces with its only S-300 anti-aircraft missile system and 30 infantry fighting vehicles. Fico reacted to this by stating that the actions of the Slovak authorities "raise serious suspicions of a deliberate decrease in the combat capability of the Slovak Armed Forces" .
The position of Smer-SD diverges from the PS's left-liberal program on other fundamental issues as well. Fico has repeatedly spoken out against EU quotas for accommodating migrants from Asia and Africa in Slovakia, raised the issue of the reluctance of the Roma diaspora to integrate into Slovak society, and criticized Progressive Slovakia for highlighting the topic of the rights of the LGBT community.
Journalists and political opponents often compare Robert Fico to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán , noting that both of them hold national conservative views and are allegedly prone to an authoritarian style of government.
Due to the fact that Slovak society is dominated by supporters of conservative values, Smer-SD and other nationally oriented forces have a strong electoral base. In recent years, however, left-liberals have shown greater cohesion and political ingenuity than conservatives.
An example is not only the victory of Zuzana Chaputova in the presidential elections, but also the unsuccessful referendum on LGBT rights that took place in 2015. Despite the fact that the vast majority of Slovaks were in favor of recognizing marriage as a union of a man and a woman (94.5%), against the adoption of children by same-sex couples (92.4%) and against sex education in schools (90.3%), the referendum was recognized failed due to low turnout - 21.4% instead of the required 50%.
Whether this year the national-conservative forces will be able to mobilize their electorate and repulse the left-liberals, we will find out in a couple of months. Elections to the Slovak Parliament are scheduled for September 30.
If, as a result of them, Robert Fico takes the post of prime minister, the policy of the Slovak Republic will most likely become more in line with the aspirations of ordinary Slovaks: the artificial inflating of the topic of LGBT rights will stop, the EU will be denied the placement of migrants of other cultures on Slovak territory, and in the future membership of Ukraine in NATO in the foreseeable future will be put an end to.
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Posted by badanov 2023-07-31 00:00||
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Posted by bman911 2023-07-31 12:42||
2023-07-31 12:42||
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