Runoff election for the presidency – Social Democrat Peter Pellegrini wins the election in Slovakia – News

  • The Social Democratic Parliament Speaker Peter Pellegrini has won the presidential election in Slovakia.
  • After all electoral districts were counted, he had 53.1 percent of the vote, ahead of the liberal opposition candidate Ivan Korcok with 46.9 percent, as the Slovakian statistics office announced.
  • Outgoing President Zuzana Caputova did not run for a second term.

Korcok admitted his defeat to media representatives in Bratislava and congratulated Pellegrini on his victory. The TASR news agency quoted the liberal former foreign minister, whom the liberal and conservative opposition parties had also supported in mass protests against the government, as saying that he was “disappointed and disillusioned”.

Pellegrini’s victory will strengthen pro-Russian Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is seeking greater control over the media, weakening anti-corruption laws and less aid to Ukraine. Pellegrini was a long-time ally of Fico, but is considered more moderate than Fico.

Pellegrini initially opposed the change in foreign policy

Pellegrini recently said his election would not mean a hasty change in foreign policy. “This is not about the future direction of foreign policy, but like the other candidates, I guarantee that we will continue to be a strong member of the EU and NATO.” The EU and NATO country Slovakia borders Ukraine.

The Slovak presidential office has primarily representative tasks


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In Slovakia, the president has primarily representative tasks. However, he or she can veto laws or challenge them before the Constitutional Court.

The presidents also appoint constitutional judges who could become important in the political controversies surrounding Fico’s planned reforms, which provide for a drastic relaxation of penalties for corruption.

According to observers, Korcok’s deficit was too great to be able to catch up. According to preliminary information, voter turnout was almost 60 percent, clearly higher than the first round of voting on March 23rd with 52 percent.

Korcok still ahead in the first round of voting

In a first round of voting on March 23, Korcok, who was supported by the liberal and conservative opposition parties, surprisingly won by five and a half percentage points over Pellegrini, who was supported by part of the left-wing national three-party coalition led by the left-wing populist Robert Fico.

Around 4.4 million voters were asked to take part in the runoff election. The liberal incumbent Zuzana Caputova did not run for a second five-year term despite her still great popularity.

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