“THE US DOES NOT TAKE SIDES”
In response to Slovakia’s claims about Russian interference, US State Division spokesman Matthew Miller stated Washington is “in shut contact with our Slovak counterparts about them”.
“The US doesn’t take sides in overseas elections,” Miller added, saying the US will “proceed to work along with the federal government chosen by the Slovak folks”.
Earlier within the day Slovakia’s liberal president Zuzana Caputova tasked Fico with forming a brand new authorities, stressing the necessity “to respect the results of democratic elections”.
“I perceive that the election outcomes are related to varied considerations for many individuals,” Caputova stated.
Fico’s party won 42 seats in the 150-member parliament – and should now discover coalition companions to type a majority authorities.
Hlas-SD, which emerged in 2020 as a breakaway occasion from Smer, is one potential associate with 27 seats.
Below Slovakia’s structure, there isn’t any deadline for forming a brand new authorities.
However the president is required to name the primary session of parliament inside 30 days of the official election outcomes being revealed.
“TOO EARLY TO SAY”
Chatting with reporters on Sunday, Fico stated “Slovakia and the folks in Slovakia have greater issues than (coping with) Ukraine”.
He added that Ukraine is “an enormous tragedy for all” and known as for peace talks as “additional killing won’t assist anybody”.
Ukraine’s International Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated on Monday that Kyiv respects the “alternative of the Slovak folks”.
He stated it was “too early to say how the election consequence will have an effect on Slovakia’s place,” including that Kyiv can “draw the primary conclusions” after a coalition is fashioned in Slovakia.
Fico beforehand known as for “good relations with each nation on this planet, together with the Russian Federation”.
However on Monday, the Kremlin rejected a characterisation of the Smer-SD occasion as pro-Russian.
“We face a scenario through which any politician who’s inclined to consider the sovereignty of his nation and defends the pursuits of his nation, is taken into account pro-Russian. That is absurd,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed reporters.
Analysts have stated a Fico authorities may seriously change Slovakia’s overseas coverage to resemble that of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Orban himself congratulated Fico on X, previously Twitter, “on his undisputable victory on the Slovak parliamentary elections”.
“At all times good to work along with a patriot. Wanting ahead to it!” Orban wrote on Sunday.