Fico's party, which criticized aid to Ukraine, lost the elections to the European Parliament: details

The party of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, Smer-SD, has been defeated in the European Parliament elections. The victory was won by the opposition party Progressive Slovakia (PS), led by former Vice President of the European Parliament Michal Šimečka.

This was reported by The Slovak Spectator. Progressive Slovakia received 27.81 percent of the vote, according to the election commission, and won the election.

At the same time, Fico's party Smer-SD ("Course - Social Democracy") came in second with 24.76 percent of the vote. However, polls published before the two-day election moratorium on June 5 predicted a potential victory for Fico's party.

Fico's party also used a shooting incident in mid-May, during which Fico was seriously wounded, to increase its chances of winning the European elections. Three weeks after the attack, Fico himself made a public appearance in a video posted on his social media page on June 5, hoping to help Smer-SD win, although he did not specifically mention the European elections.

Despite the defeat, this result in the European elections is a success for both PS and Smer-SD: each of them gained two more seats. In the new European Parliament, PS will have six MEPs and Smer-SD will have five.

Fico's party has previously criticized the EU's support for Ukraine, as well as EU policies on immigration, climate change, and LGBT rights. In contrast, Progressive Slovakia is a pro-Western liberal party.

Results of other candidates

The far-right Republic party, led by MEP Milan Urick, came in third with 12.53% of the vote, despite having no representation in the Slovak parliament.

Newly elected President Peter Pellegrini's HLAS party came in fourth with only 7.18%, a poor result given its strong position in the Slovak parliament.

HLAS gained one seat, while Respublika increased its number of seats to two. Urick, who previously ran on the list of the far-right SNS party, left it in 2021 and founded Respublika.

The opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), led by the husband of MEP Miriam Lexmann and the governor of the Prešov region Milan Majerski, gained 7.14%. However, the party will no longer have two seats in parliament, as in 2019-2024, but will have only one.

As a reminder, European Parliament elections were held in the European Union last week. Citizens of 27 EU countries elected 720 deputies who will represent approximately 360 million voters.

It is expected that the first place in the elections will be taken by the center-right European People's Party. They nominated the current head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, for a second term.

As a reminder, Robert Fico is in the hospital after an armed man fired several bullets at him on May 15. It happened after a government meeting in the city of Handlova, when the politician came out to the locals.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, the man who shot Fico is accused of attempted premeditated murder of an official. He faces life imprisonment.

Earlier it was reported that Robert Fico is known for his pro-Russian stance and opposes assistance to Ukraine. Nevertheless, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the assassination attempt on the Slovak prime minister, called it an "act of violence" and expressed support for the country's residents.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!