The victory of the pro-Russian candidate in the Slovak presidential election

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency quoting “Spiegel” weekly, Peter Pellegrini, the head of the Social Democratic Parliament of this country, won the Slovak presidential election. After 99.8 percent of the precincts were counted, he won 53 percent of the vote, clearly ahead of the liberal opposition candidate Ivan Korcuk, who won just under 47 percent. The Election Commission announced this news last night. Originally, preliminary surveys and partial results suggested a more limited outcome. The official final result should be available by Sunday afternoon at the latest.

Kurkoc conceded defeat to reporters in Bratislava and congratulated Pellegrini on his victory. The TASR news agency quoted the former liberal foreign minister, who was also supported by the opposition Liberal and Conservative parties in the massive anti-government protests, as saying he was “disappointed and disillusioned”. Korcuk criticized the election campaign and called it non-transparent. The losing candidate said: “It has been proven that you can become the president of Slovakia by spreading hatred.” Because of his stance on the war in Ukraine, he was criticized as a “warmonger”. However, the prime minister praised Pellegrini as a “moderate candidate who knows the value of peace.” Fico’s leadership held ministerial positions. In 2018, after Fico resigned following the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kosiak and his fiancee, Pellegrini replaced him at the head of the government and held the position until 2020.

During the election campaign, Pellegrini used the slogan “Slovakia needs calm” to overcome deep internal political divisions in the EU-NATO country, which borders Ukraine to the east. Korcuk, on the other hand, promised to form a counterweight to the left-wing nationalist government under Prime Minister Robert Fico. Kurkok supports strong military support for Ukraine, while Pellegrini has taken a cautious stance on arms delivery and also supports German Chancellor Olaf Schultz’s approach in this regard.

Like in Germany, the president in Slovakia has primarily a representative role. But the president’s words carry a lot of weight in public. Also, in case of government crises, he can temporarily form a government by himself, as happened last time around 2023.

Robert Fico many times from politics The EU has been critical of Ukraine but – unlike Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán – agreed with everything decided in Brussels in favor of Ukraine and against Russia. Fico’s government supports Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, but opposes the country’s accession to NATO. The leadership of a government coalition made up of liberal and conservative parties refused to face Fico’s election winner. Since he could not realize his idea of ​​a strong welfare state with these partners, he preferred to enter into a coalition with Fico.

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