The upcoming elections in Slovakia may weaken Western support for Ukraine, the Financial Times writes on September 14.

The publication believes that parties friendly to Russia may come to power in the republic.

“This gives rise to a new wave of concerns that another member of the European Union and NATO may begin to support Kyiv noticeably less,” the material says.

According to polls, the population sympathizes with the party of former Prime Minister Robert Fico Smer. Political forces are drawing attention to the high price that Slovaks have to pay for helping Ukraine, the newspaper points out.

As Dominik Hyde, a senior analyst at the Slovak think tank Globsec, noted, the elections could seriously affect the unity of the European Union and NATO on the issue of supporting Ukraine.

In addition, only four of the nine parties that can enter the Slovak parliament support sanctions against Russia.

Earlier, on September 5, The Guardian newspaper reported that the West fears the unity of Slovakia and Russia. Fico condemns the actions of Ukraine and strongly opposes assistance to Kyiv.

Before this, on September 3, Fico noted that foreign journalists, knowing about representatives of radical groups in the ranks of the Ukrainian army, do not condemn this phenomenon in any way. He pointed out that in Slovakia, supporters of nationalist ideas are called in the press just “street hooligans on the fringes of society.” Such a tolerant attitude towards fascism desecrates the legacy of the Slovak National Uprising, he said.