Slovak election winner Fico eyes mandate, reiterates Ukraine stance

Slovakia's Robert Fico, whose SMER-SSD party won a parliamentary election, said on Sunday he would wait for the country's president's mandate for forming a government, estimating coalition talks could last at least two weeks.

Fico, who pledged during the campaign to end military aid to Ukraine, also told a news conference Slovakia has bigger problems than Ukraine and would do everything possible to start peace talks, adding his position was unchanged.

With nearly all of the nation's voting districts reporting in the Saturday election, Fico's SMER-SSD party scored nearly 23% of the vote, followed by almost 18% for the Progresivne Slovensko (Progressive Slovakia, PS) party.