Ex-Prime Minister Robert Fico’s Smer party has won Slovakia’s early parliamentary election with 22.94 percent of the vote. The “vicinal” victory may have far-reaching implications for both Slovakia and the entire EU, including its consistency in supporting Ukraine.

Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová has instructed Fico to form a new government, given the support he enjoys with most deputies in the new parliament — the coalition government is not going to be an issue here at all. Smer party’s victory implies a reversed Ukraine policy, as Fico is opposed to its further military assistance. And this thesis, being his campaign’s key message, has apparently awakened an echo in the Slovaks’ hearts, empowering Fico’s foreign policy U-turn as regards Ukraine.

Oleg Soskin, a former adviser to Ukrainian ex-president Leonid Kuchma, said the Smer party’s victory is fraught with horrible consequences to Ukraine: "Zelensky, Shmygal, and lawsuits against Slovakia are largely to blame for what happened there." To avert the "bad scenario", Kiev must urgently reestablish ties with Slovakia, he pointed out.

It is crystal-clear what may particularly happen. First, Slovakia may disrupt the European Union’s shaky enough consensus regarding military and economic support to Kiev. The same views are shared by Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, who was among the first to congratulate Fico on his victory, by the way. Second, Slovakia’s pattern may prove contagious, making many EU countries concealing displeasure over their depleted military arsenals and treasuries, speak up against bloc "unanimity" towards Ukraine much-hyped by chief EU diplomat Josep Borrel and European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen — contrary to reason or dry facts.

EU and US politicians and media have started talking about an EU split on Ukraine. In an interview with La Stampa, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani called Fico's plans to stop arms supplies to Ukraine "erroneous". "Decisions regarding Ukraine must be unitary. There must be no divisions on the European front, because the strength of the EU lies in its unity," he said.

The American press notes that Slovakia’s election outcome has coincided with the US Congress’ failure to include aid to Ukraine in the bill extending the federal government’s funding, and sees this as a bad sign for Kiev. "Ukraine has received troubling news from the United States and Slovakia about the future of military aid," Newsweek writes. Just a reminder: last Saturday, the Congress approved a $16-billion financing package for 45 days (until November 17) while rejecting $6 billion in extra aid to Ukraine proposed by the Biden administration.

And so, coincidentally (or not?), the very same day witnessed an election victory by Ukraine sceptic Robert Fico, who threatens to freeze the military aid flow to Kiev. This has had a certain synergetic effect in the global information space, threatening to undermine EU cohesion in further backing the Kiev regime. "The victory will likely be a worrying signal for Kyiv, which has benefited from military aid from Slovakia, whose eastern border is shared with Ukraine. Slovakia and Poland have sent Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, setting the precedent for Kyiv's allies. But Fico has said he would turn off the tap of military aid to Ukraine, and only offer Kyiv humanitarian assistance," Newsweek points out.

"A former prime minister who’s derided the European Union’s sanctions against Russia and pledged to end military aid to Ukraine won Slovakia’s election, delivering a fresh blow to Western unity," Bloomberg writes in turn. "Robert Fico is on track to return to the eastern EU nation’s premiership after Saturday’s vote, adding to the tide of nationalist and populist forces in Europe."

Interestingly, Western liberal press has been sticking a negative "nationalist and populist" label on all the political parties or movements that stand for national interests combating the world liberal establishment’s globalist agenda. This kind of "parties have gained traction by tapping into voters’ frustration over the lingering impact of Covid pandemic, the region’s cost-of-living crisis, and fatigue over the war in Ukraine," Bloomberg writes, thereby recognizing that the European voters’ general feeling is at odds with the stance taken by Brussels and Washington willing to fight to the last Ukrainian.

Slovakia’s voting outcome may have a knock-on effect on other upcoming EU elections and bring to power "populist" parties, as the West puts it. They are capable of blocking all the bloc’s military assistance to Ukraine, if the latter is still here by that time at all.