Slovakia accused Russia of interfering in its recent election, won by a populist promising to end military aid for Ukraine, while Moscow rejected the allegations.
Slovakia on Monday accused Moscow of interfering in its election on the weekend that was won by a populist pledging to end military help for Ukraine.
Robert Fico was tapped Monday to form a new government after his party finished first on a platform that raised concerns about Kyiv’s Western support cracks.
Slovakia alleged meddling following pre-election remarks by Moscow’s foreign intelligence service director claiming Slovakia’s pro-Ukraine centrist party were “US proxies.”
That party, Progressive Slovakia, finished second with 18 percent of the vote to Fico’s Smer-SD’s 23 percent in the polls.
“We consider such deliberately disseminated misinformation to be inadmissible interference by the Russian Federation in the electoral process in the Slovak Republic,” Slovakia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The foreign ministry on Monday summoned a Russian embassy official and called on Moscow to “stop disinformation activities aimed at Slovakia.”
Moscow rejected the accusations of meddling, saying, “We do not interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries, and we do not engage in regime change.”
In reaction to Slovakia’s claims about Russian interference, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington is “in close contact with our Slovak counterparts about them”.
“The United States does not take sides in foreign elections,” Miller added, saying the US will “continue to work together with the government chosen by the Slovak people.”
Earlier in the day, Slovakia’s liberal president Zuzana Caputova tasked Fico with forming a new government, stressing the need “to respect the result of democratic elections.”
Miroslava Salazar, with AFP
