Slovakia's New Government: Far-Right Rise

Extract

[...] Conclusion Thus, it is observed that these elections in Slovakia were affected by attempts at interference from Russia (Hungary is a friendly country of Russia). In addition, the results of these elections testify to a rise in extremism and a reconfiguration of the political landscape within Slovakia. This is reflected both in the obligation for the Prime Minister to have to deal with the extreme right-wing party, but also in the trivialization of the extreme right-wing currently within this country. [...]

[...] Or, as for the government, the results may lead to the obligation of political alliances when no clear majority emerges. Thus, how does this article help to understand the stakes related to the 2023 Slovak legislative elections? Within the framework of the analysis of this article, it will be a matter of both presenting the results highlighted by this article regarding the legislative elections in Slovakia but also of questioning the way in which the article treats the arrival of new political forces, namely the far right (II). [...]

[...] The article deals with one of the consequences of the legislative elections that took place in Slovakia on Sunday, 1er October 2023, and the arrival of a new prime minister in executive power who must form his government according to the election results. A legislative election allows the people to vote for parliamentarians of one or more parliamentary chambers, that is, those who have the power to write laws (the legislative power). In a parliamentary regime, as is the case in Slovakia or the United Kingdom, the executive power is held by the Prime Minister from the parliamentary majority. Thus, these parliamentary elections in Slovakia lead to a recomposition of the political landscape both for parliamentarians, but also for the government. [...]

[...] Thus, the article highlights the establishment of a government coalition at the initiative of the winner of the elections: the president of the national-populist Smer-SD party Robert Fico. Indeed, the latter announced the creation of a coalition comprising the left-wing party HLAS-SD and the far-right party SNS. In this scenario, we are witnessing a very particular coalition, which can remind us of the rise of the AfD (far-right party) in Germany, but this time it goes much further: the classical political parties in Slovakia must necessarily make concessions to the far-right in order to have a sufficient political framework to govern. [...]

[...] This generalization of 'fake news', which is also found in other countries during important elections (for example in the United States during the 2016 elections), was highlighted by European Commissioner for Transparency Vera Jourova. It appears that this political campaign was an opportunity to observe a political interference by Russia via the use of social networks to flood them with 'fake news'. In addition, this was materialized by the use of new technologies, including that of deep fake, to spread false information. Finally, the article highlights the arrival of new migrants, including Syrians who passed through Hungary. The arrival of migrants (tens of thousands) took place just a few weeks before the elections. [...]