Slovak Prime Minister Wins Less Than Expected, Votes Go to Neo-Nazis

Slovakia’s election was not short of surprises with some gaining more votes and some less than expected. Prime-minister Robert Fico eventually won the election but with fewer votes than he anticipated. Overall, his party Smer-SD gained roughly 29% of the votes, according to the nearly complete results.

The big surprise was the far-right People’s Party Our Slovakia, which won seats in Parliament for the first time. Mr Fico, a leftist, nationalist prime minister with a harsh anti-migrant rhetoric, lost much of his expected support and made it easier for the far-right party, led by Marian Kotleba, to be represented in Parliament after gaining more than 8% of the vote. Mr. Fico is in a real pickle now, as he will be forced to form a new government that is likely to be very divided. No fewer than eight parties are likely to be represented in it. Slovakia will take over EU presidency in July 2016.

Art by Catalin Zaharia