Smer Wins Slovak Parliamentary Election

BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA - OKTOBER 1: Lead candidate of Progressive Slovakia (PS) political party Michal Simecka speaks to the media the day after Slovak parliamentary elections on October 1, 2023 in Bratislava, Slovakia. Progressive Slovakia, with a socially-liberal and pro-European platform, came in second place behind Smer, the party of former prime minister Robert Fico, which ran on a populist platform critical of the European Union and with pro-Russian narratives, including advocating an immediate halt to Slovak military aid to Ukraine. Smer now faces the task of creating a coalition government. (Footage by Zuzana Gogova/Getty Images)