Lhe victory of Peter Pellegrini, candidate allied to the populist nationalist Prime Minister Robert Fico, in the presidential election in Slovakia, Saturday April 6, is not good news neither for the cohesion of the European Union (EU), nor for the support for Ukraine in the war that Russia is waging against it, nor for the rule of law. Mr. Pellegrini, 48, won the second round of voting by beating, with 53% of the votes, former Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok, a pro-European centrist who had pledged to do everything to ensure that the Slovakia remains “free and democratic”.
The most worrying is the way in which Mr. Pellegrini managed to reverse the dynamic of the first round, at the end of which Mr. Korcok came well ahead, with 42.5% of the votes. In two weeks, Peter Pellegrini and Robert Fico transformed the campaign into a vote on the war in Ukraine, banking on the fear of the Slovak electorate and caricaturing their opponent as the man who would drag the country into war. The image is all the more abusive as the Slovak Constitution does not grant the President of the Republic any competence in matters of security and national defense.
But, in this country of 5.5 million inhabitants, crossed by conspiratorial currents, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic, and pro-Russian, carefully maintained by disinformation from Moscow, the defamation hit the mark. The voices of the far right and those of the Hungarian minority, agitated by Budapest, gave Peter Pellegrini the support he had lacked in the first round. Acknowledging his defeat, Ivan Korcok accused his opponent of spreading ” the fear “. “We have seen a man who can become president by spreading hatred and passions and transforming his opponent into a war candidate”he denounced.
Complacency towards Putin
Although the presidential office is largely honorary in Slovakia, the head of state has the possibility of influencing certain appointments, particularly in the judiciary, and of referring laws to Parliament. The outgoing president, Zuzana Caputova, a lawyer elected in the wake of a vast popular movement against corruption, had used her position in this direction, before giving up running, disgusted by the attacks against her.
Strengthened by the victory of his ally, Mr. Fico, returned to power in October 2023 after having been removed, welcomed the fact that the Slovaks had “recognized the threats posed to this country by liberal media, activists, NGOs and progressives.” Mr. Pellegrini, for his part, promised to do everything “so that Slovakia remains on the side of peace and not war”.
After losing Poland, now led by the center-right pro-European Donald Tusk, Hungarian leader Viktor Orban can today count on the unfailing support of Slovakia within the European Union. He and Robert Fico share the same complacency towards the regime of Vladimir Putin, with which they remain in contact, the same refusal to help Ukraine defend itself and the same contempt for the laws of democracy. The EU is not powerless, however; During the last European summits, Robert Fico avoided using his power of veto on aid to Ukraine, preferring to preserve the economic advantages brought to him by Brussels. But vigilance and firmness are required in the face of this pro-Russian surge in Central Europe.