BRATISLAVA, Slovakia, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- An extreme right-wing politician who wants Slovakia to leave NATO and limit foreign investments won a regional election runoff, a first, results indicated.
Marian Kotleba won 55.5 percent of the votes in a runoff Saturday to lead the administration in the central region of Banska Bystrica, northeast of the capital Bratislava, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
The regional election was one of eight across Slovakia, in which Prime Minister Robert Fico's left-leaning Smer party claimed top government seats in six of the regions.
Kotleba's victory against a Smer-backed candidate was the first time that the far-right People's Party-Our Slovakia won a regional or national government post, officials said.
Before Saturday's vote, Kotleba said the People's Party-Our Slovakia would work to reach a balanced government budget "through canceling all foreign missions of Slovak soldiers and leaving the terrorist NATO organization."
Kotleba said he also wants to eliminate "support of foreign investors at the expense of Slovak ones," a comment on the country's effort in recent years to try to attract foreign investors by offering tax breaks and other incentives to create jobs.
