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Nationalist fury as center right makes gains in Slovakia

Slovak Democratic Christian Union leader, Iveta Radicova, second left, celebrates with supporters.
Slovak Democratic Christian Union leader, Iveta Radicova, second left, celebrates with supporters.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Center-left prime minister's party wins most votes, but no majority
  • Four opposition parties look able to form government
  • Former Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda may return to power
  • Nationalist firebrands warns "homosexuals and Hungarians will rule" Slovakia
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(CNN) -- Slovak voters have dumped their government, prompting one nationalist firebrand to warn that the country would now be run by "homosexuals and Hungarians," the Slovak news agency TASR reported Sunday.

Slovakia's governing center-left Smer-SD party came first in parliamentary elections, but center-right parties captured more seats overall and look more likely to be able to form the next government, TASR said, citing unofficial results.

Prime Minister Robert Fico's party actually increased its share of the vote and will have the largest number of seats in parliament by far, but will fall short of an overall majority.

A potential coalition of four center-right parties looks set to control 79 seats in the 150-seat legislature.

Former Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda's SKDU-DS party lost three seats, but Dzurinda could return to power because his party is the biggest of the four possible coalition parties.

Fico said he was willing to try to form or government or to lead the opposition, TASR reported.

Jan Slota, the firebrand leader of the Slovak National Party, was less sanguine about the results.

"Homosexuals and Hungarians will begin to rule in this state, so thank you very much," Slota said as exit polls showed his party losing power, according to TASR.

"I'm feeling like crying because of Slovaks. Let's wait for the (official) results ... you can see, I'm not broken, I'm only sad about Slovaks," said Slota, adding: "We'll all cry tears of blood."

An ethnic Hungarian party, Most-Hid, looks set to win 14 seats and be part of the new government.

Slovakia has a large ethnic Hungarian minority. The mountainous Central European country was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until World War I.

Slota's party has been in a governing coalition with Fico's Smer-SD and the nationalist party of another former prime minister, Vladimir Meciar, since 2006.

Meciar's party failed to secure at least 5 percent of votes Saturday, so they will not have any seats in the new parliament, TASR reported.