Brief version of the news
- In the second round of elections for the presidency of Slovakia, Robert Fico's coalition ally Peter Pellegrini and pro-Western ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivan Korczak are competing.
- Peter Pellegrini wins, his opponent has already admitted defeat.
- Pellegrini has an anti-Western position, calls sanctions against Russia ineffective, opposes aid to Ukraine and calls for “peace negotiations”.
On Saturday, April 6, the second round of presidential elections took place in Slovakia. The majority of votes have already been counted. It became known that Peter Pellegrini is in the lead.
In the second round, Robert Fico's coalition ally Peter Pellegrini and the pro-Western ex-minister are competing for the presidency of Slovakia Foreign Ministry Ivan Korczak. The latter has already admitted his defeat and congratulated his opponent on his victory.
Almost 100% of the votes were counted in Slovakia
At the time of writing, 99.93% of the votes have been counted in Slovakia. This is evidenced by data from the Slovak resource Dennikn.sk.
Preliminarily, Peter Pellegrini wins. He gets 53.17% of the votes. And for Ivan Korczok for Ivan Korczok – 46.82%.
Korchok has already even admitted his defeat and congratulated Pellegrini on his victory.
What you should know about Peter Pellegrini
Peter Pellegrini is the current speaker of the Slovak parliament and leader of the Voice – Social Democracy party, which is part of Fico's coalition government.
Pellegrini shares the position of the Fico government regarding relations with Russia and the West . He has an anti-Western position and states that sanctions against Moscow are “in most cases ineffective” and supposedly have a negative impact on the Slovakian economy.
As for the war in Ukraine, Pellegrini called himself “ candidate for peace” and promises not to allow “Slovakia to be drawn into war.” Following Fico he opposes helping Ukraine to counter Russian aggression.
During the last presidential debate, Pellegrini also called for an “immediate ceasefire and the start of peace negotiations” between Russia and Ukraine.
But his main opponent, Ivan Korczok, is the complete opposite. This is the former head of the Slovak Foreign Ministry, who is a friend of Ukraine.
Korchok was Slovakia's envoy to the EU, later ambassador to the US, and then headed the foreign affairs portfolio in center-right governments in 2021 – 2022 At that time, Slovakia was a staunch ally of Ukraine, providing it with air defense and fighter aircraft. Fico's cabinet stopped these supplies after coming to power.
Reuters notes that during the election race, Pellegrini tried to portray Korczok as a “warmonger.” Like, according to him, he supports Ukraine so much that he can send Slovak troops to the front. However, Korochok actively denied this. Pellegrini, considered more moderate than Fico, said his election would not mean a hasty change in foreign policy.
