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Ruling party wins Slovakia’s election as neo-Nazis gain seats for first time

Robert Fico, leader of the leftist ruling party, has been critical of Western sanctions against Russia.DAVID W CERNY/Reuters

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — The leftist ruling party won the parliamentary election in Slovakia, after campaigning on an antimigrant ticket, but will need coalition partners to form a majority government, according to results announced on Sunday.

In a surprising development, a neo-Nazi party gained parliamentary seats for the first time.

With the votes from 99.9 percent of the almost 6,000 polling stations counted by the Statistics Office Sunday, the Smer-Social Democracy Party of Prime Minister Robert Fico won with 28.3 percent of the vote, or 49 seats in the 150-seat Parliament.

That represents a significant drop in support from the 2012 election when Smer took 44.4 percent and was able to govern alone.

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Fico acknowledged he had hoped for at least 4-5 percent more but still called it ‘‘a decent result.’’

The prime minister favors a strong state role in the economy, has been critical of Western sanctions against Russia, and is known for strong anti-Muslim rhetoric. Slovakia has not been part of the European route that hundreds of thousands of refugees are using, and a recent teachers strike over low pay, nurses quitting hospitals en masse, and corruption scandals in the health care system have overshadowed the migrant crisis in the country. Still, Fico had made it the central tenet of his campaign.

The pro-business Freedom and Solidarity became the second strongest party with 12.1 percent, or 21 seats, ahead of another center-right party, the Ordinary People with 11.0 percent.

The ultra-nationalist Slovak National Party, Fico’s potential partner, returned to Parliament after a four-year-absence with 8.6 percent while the traditional party in the predominantly Roman Catholic country of 5.4 million, the Christian Democrats, didn’t get enough votes to be represented.

Most notably, the neo-Nazi People’s Party — Our Slovakia got 8 percent, or 14 seats.

Fico said it is his duty as the winner to create a meaningful government.

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