The Guardian view on Slovakia’s election: an ominous signal from central Europe | Editorial

Victory for a Putin-friendly populist has given Viktor Orban an ally and the rest of Europe a problem

Elections in Slovakia, a country of 5.5 million people on the eurozone's eastern flank, do not normally generate global headlines. But these are not normal times. Amid fears of growing cracks in western unity over Russia's war in Ukraine, the victory over the weekend of a pro-Putin populist committed to ending military aid to Kyiv sent an ominous signal.

Slovakia has bigger problems than Ukraine," said Robert Fico, in the wake of a win that will have been a cause for satisfaction in the Kremlin. His Smer-SD party, which ran a campaign targeting irregular migrants, LGBTQ+ rights and support for Kyiv, will now seek to lead a coalition government. For Mr Fico, who has been the subject of corruption allegations, and was ousted as leader in 2018 in toxic circumstances, this was a remarkable comeback. For most of Europe, it is one with worrying implications on a number of levels.

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