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PRAGUE —Voters in Slovakia, Italy and other European Union nations were casting their ballots Saturday on the third day of elections for the European Parliament, with populist and far-right parties looking to make gains across the 27-member bloc while violence continued to hang over the campaign.
In Slovakia, the election was overshadowed by an attempt to assassinate populist Prime Minister Robert Fico on May 15, sending shockwaves through the nation of 5.4 million and reverberating throughout Europe. Analysts say the attack could boost the chances of the premier's leftist Smer, or Direction, party, the senior partner in the governing coalition, to win the vote.
And in Denmark it was Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen who called off her last day of campaigning across the country after suffering whiplash when she was assaulted in Copenhagen on Friday, the latest in a series of incidents over the past weeks in which the assassination attempt on Fico stood out.
Fico, who took office last fall after campaigning on a pro-Russian and anti-American platform, has been recovering from multiple wounds after being shot in the abdomen as he greeted supporters in the town of Handlova.
He recovered in time to address the nation in a prerecorded video, his first public statement since the attack, just hours before the start of the preelection silence period on Wednesday.
Although Fico didn't talk directly about the vote, he attacked the European Union, suggesting he was a victim because of his views that differ sharply from the European mainstream.
Fico strongly opposes support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia's full-scale invasion. He ended Slovakia's military aid for Ukraine after his coalition government was sworn in on October 25. He also opposes EU sanctions on Russia and wants to block Ukraine from joining NATO.
Fico claimed mainstream media, nongovernmental organizations and the liberal opposition were also to blame for the assassination attempt, an allegation repeated by politicians in his governing coalition.
Sona Szomolanyi, a political science professor at Comenius University in Bratislava, said the timing of Fico's message was "no coincidence."
"It only confirms that the ruling coalition has been using the assassination [attempt] expediently and apparently effectively," she said. As a result, "a mobilization of the supporters of Smer [at the election] can be expected."
The whole EU campaign has been cast in the light of the center and left forces seeking to hold off a surge of the far right on Sunday and in a fight between those who seek closer EU unity with greater powers against those such as Fico, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who seek to claw back powers to national capitals.
EU Commision President Ursula von der Leyen, who hopes to use Sunday's results as a launchpad for a second term at the head of the EU, has especially been stressing the respect for the rule of law as a quintessential requirement for those seeking power.
Meloni is expected to be the big winner in Italy, reflecting her far-right Brothers of Italy's growth, mostly at the expense of her coalition partners, the populist, anti-migrant League and the center-right Forza Italia. While the vote is not expected to affect the balance in the governing coalition, the result could expand Meloni's influence in the EU, as von der Leyen has not ruled out a coalition with her group.
Capitalizing on her popularity, Meloni is running as the preferential candidate, even though she has no intention of taking a European parliamentary seat.
Voters in Latvia, Malta and the Czech Republic were also casting ballots Saturday.
Final results will not be released until Sunday night, once every country has voted. The main voting day is Sunday, with citizens in 20 European countries, including Germany, France and Poland, casting their ballots for the 720-seat European Parliament.
Seats are allocated based on population, ranging from six in Malta or Luxembourg to 96 in Germany. In Malta, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, von der Leyen's ally in the Christian Democrat center-right European People's Party, proudly proclaimed "Duty done" and urged EU citizens to go vote, "or others will decide for you." In 2019, barely half the eligible votes went out to the polling booths while predictions have shown turnout could exceed 70% this year.
In Slovakia, Fico's Smer party is in a close race against the main opposition Progressive Slovakia, a pro-Western liberal party.
Fico's government has made efforts to overhaul public broadcasting - a move critics said would give the government full control of public television and radio.
That, along with his plans to amend the penal code to eliminate a special anti-graft prosecutor, has led opponents to worry that he would lead Slovakia down a more autocratic path, following the direction of neighboring Hungary.
Thousands have repeatedly rallied in the capital and across Slovakia to protest Fico's policies.
Aneta Vilagi, an analyst from Comenius University, said that Smer's possible victory "will be interpreted by the coalition parties as evidence that a majority of voters still agree with the direction they're offering to the country."