Ukraine holds its breath as Slovakia votes in knife-edge parliamentary election

The election pits a populist former prime minister who campaigned on a pro-Russia and anti-American message against a liberal, pro-West newcomer.

Transcript

00:00 Voters in Slovakia are heading to the polls in an early parliamentary election that pits

00:05 a populist former Prime Minister, who campaigned on a pro-Russian and anti-American message,

00:11 against a liberal pro-West newcomer. The result could reverse the small Eastern European country's

00:17 support for neighbouring Ukraine in its war with Russia. Former Prime Minister Robert

00:23 Fico and his leftist SMER party have vowed to withdraw Slovakia's military support for

00:27 Kiev if he returns to power. Fico also opposes EU sanctions on Russia and wants to block

00:33 Ukraine from joining NATO. Michel Simica leads SMER's main challenger, progressive Slovakia,

00:40 a liberal party formed in 2017. He sees the country's future as firmly tied to its existing

00:46 membership in the EU and NATO. Both parties scored around 20% backing in the final opinion

00:51 polls, meaning the likely election winner will need help from smaller parties to form

00:56 a majority coalition.

00:57 [WHOOSH]