When, on Monday, October 16, he presented his coalition agreement with left-wing party HLAS and the far-right pro-Russian party SNS, future Slovak prime minister Robert Fico knew that he would have to deal with foreign policy issues. Having topped the polls on September 30 with 23% of the vote, this leader of the conservative national party Smer ("Direction") sought to reassure those who had been frightened by his victory: "The orientation of Slovakia's foreign policy will remain unchanged and will be based on our membership of the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance."

After campaigning in this Central European country bordering on Ukraine by promising to oppose European sanctions against Moscow and to halt arms deliveries to Kyiv, 59-year-old Fico promised to "establish a healthy patriotism." And on October 19, those who fear that Slovakia will fall into the pro-Russian camp along the lines of neighboring Hungary were hardly reassured by the announcement of the composition of the government due to take office next week.

Rather than choosing a diplomat for the strategic post of foreign minister, Fico picked one of his loyalists, Smer vice president Juraj Blanar, who has so far been noted above all for his full alignment with his leader's pro-Russian positions. "He is totally inexperienced," said Grigorij Meseznikov, a political scientist and president of the Slovak Institute for Public Affairs in Bratislava.

Even more worrying signals were sent with the environment and culture appointments. These ministries have been entrusted to two SNS figures who contribute to the large amount of disinformation in Slovakia. A hunting enthusiast, climate sceptic and notorious homophobe has been chosen for the environment role. The mayor of a small municipality of 2,500 inhabitants, Rudolf Huliak managed to get himself elected to the National Council (parliament) on September 30 after making a name for himself by spreading lies on Facebook.

In speeches, he said that bears, which he would like to have the right to shoot, are a "biological weapon sent by Brussels" to destroy the Slovak countryside, and that CO₂ is a "globalist scam to impose communism." Although, he has also said that LGBTQ+ people "produce CO₂ by indulging in their sexual activities." This outspoken supporter of leaving the European Union (EU) and NATO also promised that, if he were to become a minister one day, his first act would be to "go to Moscow to apologize for those idiots who started this whole conflict."

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