Ruling Party in Slovakia Loses Majority in Elections
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Slovakia’s ruling party, running on an anti-migrant platform, has lost its majority in parliamentary elections that also saw the success of far-right extremists, according to results announced on Sunday.
The outcome could affect the shape of the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, which Slovakia assumes in July, as well as color ongoing talks on the Continentwide migrant crisis and the future of free movement under the Schengen Agreement.
Prime Minister Robert Fico’s Smer-Social Democracy party, which has governed since 2012, prevailed with 28.3 percent of Saturday’s vote, according to the national Statistical Office, but it will be forced to seek support among several other parties in order to form a new government.
“The results that are showing are very complicated, but they show that the political system is very alive,” Mr. Fico told the daily SME on Sunday morning.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/07/world/europe/ruling-party-in-slovakia-loses-majority-in-elections.html