Russian Federation Embassy in Bratislava. (source: Sme - Marko Erd)
Almost three weeks after the Slovak Foreign Ministry expelled a Russian diplomat and summoned Russian ambassador Igor Bratchikov, the ministry summoned Bratchikov again.
In its statement from October 2, the ministry writes that the reason is the statements made by Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia Sergey Naryshkin during the 48-hour election moratorium in Slovakia.
On September 28, Russia’s intelligence service published a press release on its website. Naryshkin accused the USA of interfering in the Slovak parliamentary election. The vote took place two days after the press release, on September 30.
“The upcoming elections in Slovakia can hardly be perceived as a democratic expression of the will of the people free from external influence,” the press release reads, claiming that the liberal party Progresívne Slovensko is expected to win and form a government loyal to Washington.
The Slovak election was won by the populist party Smer, led by former three-time PM Robert Fico.
Pro-Russian party wins election
On October 2, Fico was asked by President Zuzana Čaputová to try to form a government. Fico holds pro-Russian views and refuses to support Ukraine militarily. He also called the Slovak president a US agent.
The Slovak Foreign Ministry slammed the Russian intelligence service for questioning the integrity of free and democratic elections in Slovakia.
“We consider such deliberately disseminated disinformation to be inadmissible interference by the Russian Federation in the electoral process in Slovakia.”
The manipulation of election results is practically impossible in Slovakia. If, for example, a member of the electoral commission wanted to change the results, there are still nominees of other parties sitting in who can prevent them from doing so.
The Russian embassy in Bratislava, a notorious disseminator of disinformation and propaganda in Slovakia, denied the Slovak ministry’s allegation.
According to a Focus poll from August 2023, 72 percent of Slovaks do not trust Russian President Vladimir Putin. Twenty-four percent trust him. As for Smer supporters, 44 percent trust Putin. Only Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán is considered to be more trusted by Smer supporters.
