The Social Democrat Pellegrini has won the presidential election in Slovakia. Opposition candidate Korcok admitted defeat – and said he was “disappointed and disillusioned”.
He is considered an ally of the Russia-friendly Prime Minister Robert Fico – and will now be the next President of Slovakia. After counting 99.8 percent of the electoral districts, the Social Democratic Parliament President Peter Pellegrini is clearly ahead of the liberal opposition candidate Ivan Korcok, who got just under 47 percent, with a good 53 percent of the votes. The electoral commission announced this on Sunday night.
Surveys and initial partial results had suggested an even narrower result. The official final result should be available by Sunday afternoon at the latest.
“Disappointed and disillusioned”
Korcok admitted his defeat to journalists 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.”
During the election campaign, Pellegrini campaigned with the slogan “Slovakia needs calm” to overcome the deep internal political divisions in the EU and NATO country, which borders Ukraine to the east. Korcok, on the other hand, promised to form a counterweight to the left-wing nationalist government under Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Above all, a representative role
Korcok advocates decisive military support for Ukraine, while Pellegrini urges caution when it comes to arms deliveries, also referring to the position of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Similar to Germany, the head of state in Slovakia primarily has a representative role. But the president’s word carries great weight in public. In the event of government crises, he can temporarily set up a government himself, as last happened around 2023.
The liberal incumbent Zuzana Caputova did not seek a second five-year term despite her still great popularity.