Slovaks vote in tight polls key for foreign policy

BRATISLAVA, Sept 30 (AFP): Slovaks voted on Saturday in a tight early election seen as key to whether the country will keep supporting neighbouring Ukraine after a campaign marked by disinformation.
Polling stations across the EU and NATO member of 5.4 million people will close at 2000 GMT, with exit polls expected shortly afterwards and the final results due on Sunday morning.
Pensioner Emilia Divilekova, voting in the capital Bratislava, said her son had left Slovakia dismayed with the "gang of mafia, thieves and murderers" ruling the country.
"He now lives 900 kilometres away from home and I would like him to be able to come back."
Two parties were neck-and-neck in the final opinion polls -- the left-wing Smer-SD of populist former premier Robert Fico and the centrist Progressive Slovakia of European Parliament vice-speaker Michal Simecka.
Both parties scored around 20 percent backing, which means the likely election winner will need help from smaller parties to form a majority coalition in the 150-seat parliament.
The new government will replace a wobbly centre-right coalition in power since 2020, which has seen three cabinets installed over the period and provided hefty military and humanitarian aid to war-stricken Ukraine.