In September 2023, we will witness a new interesting political battle in Europe – the parliamentary elections that will take place in the Slovak Republic. These elections can show us what deep triggers might be in place in a Slavic society, especially under the influence of the Ukrainian conflict.
The center right coalition in power was weakened last September, when ministers from SaS (Freedom and Solidarity party) resigned. This comes as some relevant misunderstandings came up between the OLANO party and the SaS party. The disputes were caused by the insufficient measures taken to support the population during the crisis of energy prices. From that moment the government led by Prime minister Eduard Heger acted as a minority administration. In May 2023, Heger resigned – forced by corruption scandals (involving the Minister of Agriculture Samuel Vlčan). From that moment Slovakia has been led by an interim government.
The parliamentary elections from September 2023 can be a difficult test for the Slovak Republic, even president Zuzana Čaputová expressed her concerns about the possibility that her country could follow Hungary as international posture. The main threat identified by the more classical parties is the Direction – Social Democracy led by former PM Robert Fico, who has used an anti-western rhetoric and pleaded for a pro-Russian foreign policy.
The future electoral battle is extremely important, both from a regional point of view, but also European. We should take into account that the pro-Russian feelings are still present within the society and we might witness political factions trying to use them to their advantage, whilst promoting an anti-European rhetoric. Such a situation represents an invitation for the Russian propaganda to further exploit such an opportunity, including during the electoral campaign. We should not forget that according to a recent survey, 78% of the Slovak respondents consider Russia as “my country`s traditional sister/brother nation”. The same survey from 2023 points out that Bulgaria and Slovakia have had the largest contingents of respondents throughout the region expressing pro-Russian views and prone to believing disinformation narratives.
It is important to see how the main messages will be sent and how micro-targeting will be used by the parties. The “non-populists” should clearly present the threat posed by the populist factions – while preparing a more aggressive campaign. The future “campaign chef” will surely have a lot of work combining positive and negative elements in a complex and relevant electoral campaign for the whole Slovak Republic.
