Press comments on the presidential election
“Slovakia is moving into the camp of undemocratic and purely totalitarian regimes”
Peter Pellegrini, the newly elected President of Slovakia, in front of his country’s flag
© Imago Images
Peter Pellegrini becomes the new President of Slovakia. Opinions on the future head of state vary. The international press opinions on the election.
The populist parliamentary speaker Peter Pellegrini becomes the new head of state Slovakia. The 48-year-old, who has called for Ukraine to be ready for peace talks with Russia, said after his success in the runoff against pro-Western diplomat Ivan Korcok on Saturday that he would “make sure that Slovakia is on the side of peace and not of the war remains”. Pellegrini is an ally of the pro-Russian head of government Robert Fico; some even see the future president as a puppet of Fico, as the press review shows.
This is how the international press comments on the election in Slovakia
The Slovakian daily newspaper “Dennik N” writes: “Peter Pellegrini will be president, but only in the pictures in state offices and schools. The real president will be Robert Fico. He personally could not have won the election because he scares off too many people and too strong ones in decent society Rejection. Nevertheless, he will be the real president because he is the undoubted head of the coalition and Pellegrini obeys his every word. (…) Fico now has the entire state in his hands and will be a president and prime minister of revenge. It will be a dark and certainly very difficult time. The majority of voters have decided that this is how it should be. They have given all the power into his hands and he will use it to the fullest. That is sad (…), but it is “It’s not forever and not everything is lost. On the contrary. It’s precisely in moments like these that the character of a country becomes apparent. Let’s defend ourselves!”
“Sme” (Slovakia): “The election result represents a symbolic step by Slovakia into the camp of the undemocratic and purely totalitarian regimes, which, under the leadership of Russia and China, have declared and are waging a – for the time being still hybrid – war against the “American” world order. This obvious shift by Slovakia into This civilizational conflict over the global rules of the 21st century is the most fundamental result and the exclamation mark message of April 6. (…) A serious problem is that the election of Pellegrini undermines the democratic legitimacy of the fourth government of (Prime Minister Robert) Fico strengthens significantly. The almost hysterical reservations of the opposition and, following them, the European Commission make this victory a delicate matter. Because the EU Commission is now faced with the highly demanding challenge of arguing how, in the face of such democratic confirmation, for example, Fico’s judicial reform can violate European values. This can only be argued in a politically incorrect way.”
“Pravda” (Slovakia): “The smallest difference in vote shares between the two presidential candidates in the runoff election so far also shows how divided the country is in terms of voter preferences. The conflicting opinions about the direction of the state are also geographically striking, with Bratislava and almost all other regions of Slovakia opposing each other The key question therefore arises as to how and whether Pellegrini can succeed in uniting the country and bringing it the calm that he promised in his main campaign slogan after all the constant strife. Especially whether he manages to be non-partisan, and how he manages to represent the interests of all voters, not just his own, will determine how the residents of Slovakia will ultimately evaluate his presidency.”
“Lidove noviny” from the Czech Republic: “To describe the winner of the election as a Trojan horse of Russian President Vladimir Putin is nothing more than chatter at the regular table level. (…) The elections in Slovakia were democratic and the high turnout of voters gives the new president one great legitimacy. (…) The previous uncritical admiration for the outgoing President Zuzana Caputova must not be replaced by a hasty agitation against Peter Pellegrini. We should first wait and see what he does, what he says and how he relates to Prime Minister Robert Fico behaves.”
“The Standard” (Austria): “The left-wing nationalist Prime Minister Robert Fico, who had already raised concerns about the rule of law in the country because of his controversial judicial reform, left nothing to be desired on the evening of the election. As soon as the result was known, he declared it a success for his government and – standing next to Pellegrini – won against “liberal media, activists, progressivists and NGOs”. (…) In his victory speech, Pellegrini already vowed not to cause any problems for Fico’s government. He also promised that Slovakia would remain a “country of peace and not of war “, smells very much of his mentor’s cooking. The fact that this does not mean criticism of the Kremlin, but rather the help for the attacked Ukraine, was not mentioned in the ecstasy of victory. But nobody expected it. Pellegrini is not a man of big words. He is a man of Fico.”
The “People’s Voice” from Magdeburg: The election of Peter Pellegrini as Slovakian president finally paves the way for the country’s change of direction. Pellegrini and his ally, Prime Minister Robert Fico, will form a team that calls itself social democratic, but will above all be populist. Because Fico doesn’t have much in mind for the EU and wants to limit aid to Ukraine, he is already considered a close friend of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban. But suddenly everything is in motion in Budapest. Since former Fidesz man Peter Magyar switched sides after a domestic political scandal and took a front against Orban, people have been on the streets. Hungarians literally want their country back, which has ended up completely in Fidesz clutches. Maybe this time there will be a change in Hungary. Then there could also be a change of roles between Budapest and Bratislava. The snappy Fico would be in no way inferior to Orban.
“Frankfurter Rundschau”: Slovakia is a second thorn in Eastern Europe that Putin likes. She will be really annoying in her duet with Hungary in Brussels. But that’s not the worst thing. It’s the words. Future President Pellegrini claims peace with Putin is possible. He believes he is a reliable partner for the EU and NATO. He announces that he wants to unite “divided Slovakia”. All of this is the brazen opposite of factuality, in the style of Orwell’s “1984”. But as with Donald Trump, baseless fantasies are also well received in Eastern Europe. Escaping reality is so much more comfortable.
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