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Newly elected Slovakian president wants to follow course with Ukraine
Presidential candidate Peter Pellegrini, center, celebrates after the runoff election in Slovakia. According to the counts, he won the candidacy that night. photo
© Denes Erdos/AP/dpa
The Social Democrat Peter Pellegrini wins the Slovak presidential election. He urges caution when it comes to arms deliveries to neighboring Ukraine. And also refers to Olaf Scholz.
The President of Parliament was clearer than expected Peter Pellegrini won the presidential election in Slovakia. The still unofficial results published by the State Election Commission that night left no doubt about his victory over opposition candidate Ivan Korcok, who admitted his defeat.
The triumph of the 48-year-old Social Democrat is also likely to have an impact on the foreign policy course of the EU and NATO country, which borders Ukraine, which is attacked by Russia, to the east. While his opponent Korcok, who was defeated in the runoff by around 47 percent to 53 percent, always advocated for decisive military support for Ukraine, Pellegrini urged caution in arms deliveries during the election campaign so that Slovakia would not be drawn into the war.
With a view to Germany
He also explicitly referred to the position of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose SPD is rooted in the same European party family. Pellegrini and the “Voice – Social Democracy” (Hlas-SD) party he founded belong to the three-party coalition led by the left-wing populist head of government Robert Fico.
Pellegrini and like-minded people split off from his party “Direction – Slovak Social Democracy” (Smer-SSD) in 2020 because Fico was becoming increasingly nationalistic and suspicions of corruption in his environment led to mass protests after the internationally acclaimed murder of journalist Jan Kuciak. By far the smallest partner, the coalition also includes the nationalists of the pro-Russian Slovak National Party SNS.
Criticism of course adjustment
Fico repeatedly expressed criticism of the EU’s Ukraine policy, but – unlike Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban – agreed to everything that was decided in Brussels in favor of Ukraine and against Russia. The Fico government supports Ukraine joining the EU, but not NATO.
After the parliamentary elections in autumn 2023, Pellegrini refrained from taking over the leadership of a government alliance made up of liberal and conservative parties against election winner Fico. Because he would not have been able to realize his idea of a strong welfare state with these partners, he preferred to enter into a coalition with Fico.
Critics accuse Pellegrini of having since adapted his clearly pro-Western foreign policy positions to suit his coalition partners. This particularly concerns arms deliveries to Ukraine, which he had originally supported, unlike Fico and the SNS.
Mass protests by the liberal and conservative opposition parties against Fico’s return to power, which were defeated in the election, had a mobilizing effect on Korcok. Most recently, Korcok was able to use these protests to his advantage in election campaign events. Among other things, protests were against a judicial reform and the restructuring of the public broadcaster RTVS planned by the Fico government.