A Slovak populist party that wants to stop military aid to Ukraine and is critical of the EU and NATO will be tasked with forming a new government after winning elections. 

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova said she would give a mandate to the country's election winner on Monday to form a new government, signaling former prime minister Robert Fico would receive first shot at putting together a coalition.

The Smer-SD party led by Fico scored 23 percent in the vote, beating the centrist Progressive Slovakia at 18 percent. 

Erik Lastic, Head of Political Science Department at Comenius University in Bratislava, hailed the former PM's election victory. Speaking to CGTN, Lastic called it a remarkable comeback, having suffered a comprehensive defeat in the 2020 election, with support for his party dropping below 10 percent. 

'A great story for Fico'

However, he has managed to win the fourth election in his lifetime, which is "a great story for him."

According to Lastic, Fico's electoral success has shown how hard he has worked to stay relevant on both social and mainstream media - leading discussions over policy and highlighting the government's failings. It is also in part due to the government's inability to tackle key issues like the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the energy crisis, he added..

In this latest election, Slovakia's far right parties have fared well, amplifying an anti-migration and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, views shared by Fico's Smer-SD party,

"It's a similar scenario that plays out now in the Republican Party in the United States that formerly extreme views are becoming basically a mainstream agenda of the major parties. not only in Slovakia, but also in Western Europe and the United States," explained the political scientist.

The key election issue, however, was whether or not the country should continue to support Ukraine.

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'A proxy war between U.S. and Russia'

Lastic insists, "the military support for Ukraine will end because Fico sees the conflict in Ukraine as a proxy war between the United States and Russia.

"And he has mentioned time and again, 'we need to take care of Slovak people, not the Ukrainians.' So that's his main message."

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto welcomed Fico's victory, saying he shared the Hungarian government's stance on issues like migration and the conflict in Ukraine.

"Robert Fico has the same views on the war (in Ukraine), migration and gender issues as us. His victory offers a serious chance to strengthen the Visegrad alliance (of CEE states)," Szijjarto said in a Facebook post.

But given the pressure from the European Union on Slovakia and its reliance on the bloc's money for public investment, it will not be that easy for the Slovakian leader to end "other types of aid" for Kyiv.

So, will Fico be able to agree a deal with the EU to help secure investment for his country in exchange for an acceptable level of support for the Ukrainians?

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