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Putin's next target: Slovakia [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-09-17  

Daily Kos writers and commentators often mention how important the next US presidential elections are for the battle for freedom and democracy which is spearheaded by the Ukrainian people. This is correct, but it will take over a year till this election takes place, the fighter for freedom has good chances to prevail, and although the Republicans might choose a very questionable candidate, they are certainly not a monolithic tool in Putin’s hands.

This is the battle of the future, but today’s battle happens in Slovakia where a parliamentary election takes place end of September. Even in Europe, most people know nothing about this small country with only 5.5 million inhabitants — even not confusing it with the small Slovenia can be considered a positive surprise. Nonetheless, the importance of Slovakia for Ukraine’s fight for survival is huge, as the neighboring Slovakia has been one its closes allies since Putin’s renewed invasion. Just look at the list of weapons systems which Slovakia has delivered: You won’t find a single country outside of Eastern Europe that has yet delivered everything from fighter jets, helicopters, SAM systems to self-propelled artillery. Additionally, Western weapon systems are maintained in eastern Slovakia, just over Ukraine’s border. And most important: Slovakia is a strong ally in EU’s support of Ukraine and sanctions of Russia, where most decisions require unanimity.

Putin knows that direct control of just one EU (and NATO) member could be his biggest success since closing the land bridge to Crimea. One could argue if he hasn’t already achieved that with Hungary, but Orban is still somehow balancing on a tightrope and has not yet fully sided with Putin. This is totally different with some of Slovakia’s opposition parties which might form the Government . Parties like SMER or the Republicans (!) are totally in line with Russia, are opposing any weapon deliveries, and leading members of the SMER party are saying stuff like “war and fascism always came from the West, freedom and peace always from the East” and that Slovakia needs to be freed from the “Euro-American occupation”. They are supported by a massive Russian disinformation campaign and are finding support despite allegations of corruption, mafia connections and even the indirect involvement in the murder of Ján Kuciak, an independent journalist, and his fiancée. Unfortunately, it has to be acknowledged that colossal mistakes of the pro-Western government regarding the domestic policy made it possible for Putin’s allies to gain so much ground in election polls.

Still, there is hope that Putin will lose this battle. As usual in Europe, the extreme pro-Russian parties will certainly have to form coalition governments to gain a majority of seats in the parliament. Personal and political differences will make this difficult, and at least one of the potential coalition members might hopefully prevent a policy of support for Putin. A grassroots campaign roughly translated with “I want to stay here, I vote” is doing its best to motivate younger voters to participate, and hopefully the Slovak people recognize that their wealthy and beautiful country has no need to descent into becoming an autocratic ally of Putin’s Neo-Fascism.

For Ukraine in particular and democracy in general, let’s hope that Putin will not be able to win the battle for Slovakia.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/17/2193803/-Putin-s-next-target-Slovakia

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