Slovakia appeared to be on track to maintain its record as the European Union’s least enthusiastic member, with exit polls showing that only 19 per cent of Slovaks’ bothered to turn up for European Parliament elections.

However, the number is higher than five years ago, when only 17 per cent of Slovaks voted. In the meantime Slovakia has joined the euro, becoming the first former Warsaw Pact member to have done so, which has shielded the country of 5m from some of the initial impacts of the global economic crisis.