On September 30, a pro-Russian party won Slovakia’s parliamentary elections, striking a blow to the relative unity displayed by European Union (EU) and NATO countries in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Led by Robert Fico, the Smer-SD [Direction–Social Democracy] party campaigned on a polarizing platform based on anti-immigration, anti-LGBTQ, anti-American and openly pro-Russian rhetoric, while alleging that Ukraine had received excessive military aid and Slovakia had taken in far more than its share of refugees. How did it come to pass that fears of a major political U-turn in Bratislava towards Ukraine were so strong?
Our research into public opinion on the war in Ukraine has enabled us to identify a number of European countries where there exists a significant discrepancy between strong government support for Ukraine and a more ambivalent public opinion, particularly with regard to sending military aid and accepting refugees. Slovakia offers an eloquent illustration of those divergences. Despite the scale of government support for Ukraine, the electorate is divided on the issue.
Surpassed only by Denmark and the Baltic States
The previous [centrist] government of Eduard Heger, no doubt concerned about their common border, strongly supported Ukraine, ranking fifth among EU member states in terms of the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) allocated to Ukrainian military efforts, according to the latest data from the Ukraine Support Tracker (Kiel Institute), and surpassed only by Denmark and the three Baltic states. Furthermore, according to the same data, Slovakia has taken in a significant number of Ukrainian refugees, ranking sixth in terms of acceptance rate within the EU in proportion to its total population.
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But while the government forged ahead, the public trailed behind, and Slovaks are now said to be tepid about helping Ukraine, according to data from the EUI-YouGov Solidarity in Europe opinion survey. A closer look at that data reveals notable divisions within the Slovak political sphere. Smer-SD supporters are significantly less willing to support Ukraine militarily or to accept Ukrainian refugees, compared with respondents identifying with the other main parties.
These major differences between parties are also corroborated by a survey carried out by European team of the Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES), which specializes in assessing the positions of the continent’s main political formations, particularly on the Ukrainian conflict. In the opinion of those experts, Smer-SD has one of the lowest scores in Slovakia for its willingness to help Ukraine, rivaled only by the neo-Nazi LSNS [People’s Party-Our Slovakia].
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Source link : https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2023/10/31/in-some-european-countries-there-is-a-significant-discrepancy-between-strong-government-support-for-ukraine-and-more-ambivalent-public-opinion_6217360_23.html
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Publish date : 2023-10-31 07:00:00
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