<p>Slovakia’s leftist leader Robert Fico pledged on Sunday to defend the euro after his party won a solid majority in parliamentary elections dominated by voter anger over corruption.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Fico, whose Smer-SD party picked up 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, will be the first leader to have an independent majority since Slovakia gained independence in 1993.<br />He said his plans to tax the rich and boost social welfare would not be at odds with the eurozone’s drive to end the debt crisis.<br /><br />“The programme will be pro-European,” said Fico, who led Slovakia into the eurozone during his first stint as prime minister from 2006-2010.<br /><br />“We want the eurozone preserved and the euro as a strong European currency.”<br />His party won 44.4 per cent of the vote, well ahead of the outgoing SDKU-DS that saw its support dwindle to just over 6 per cent.</p>
<p>Slovakia’s leftist leader Robert Fico pledged on Sunday to defend the euro after his party won a solid majority in parliamentary elections dominated by voter anger over corruption.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Fico, whose Smer-SD party picked up 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, will be the first leader to have an independent majority since Slovakia gained independence in 1993.<br />He said his plans to tax the rich and boost social welfare would not be at odds with the eurozone’s drive to end the debt crisis.<br /><br />“The programme will be pro-European,” said Fico, who led Slovakia into the eurozone during his first stint as prime minister from 2006-2010.<br /><br />“We want the eurozone preserved and the euro as a strong European currency.”<br />His party won 44.4 per cent of the vote, well ahead of the outgoing SDKU-DS that saw its support dwindle to just over 6 per cent.</p>