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October 2, 2023

Russia-Friendly Candidate Wins Slovakia's Parliamentary Election
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In Slovakia, former Prime Minister Robert Fico emerged as the leading
candidate to head a coalition government after his Russia-friendly party
won the largest share of votes in Sunday's parliamentary election. Fico
has called for negotiations to end Russia's war in Ukraine and
campaigned on a pledge to halt arms shipments from Slovakia to Kyiv. He
previously said allowing Ukraine to join NATO would "mean the beginning
of World War III." On Sunday, Fico said a top priority of the new
government should be to crack down on asylum seekers and migrants
crossing Slovakia's border with Hungary.

Robert Fico: "One of the government's first decisions must be a
government regulation to restore border controls with Hungary. And yes,
that's all there is to it, and I stand by it. It won't be pretty
pictures. Force may be needed to solve the migrant problem."

The liberal Progressive Slovakia party, which came in second and
supports arming Ukraine, said it will try to form a coalition to prevent
Fico from taking power.


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