Social Democrat Pellegrini wins presidential election in Slovakia
Presidential candidate Peter Pellegrini
Source: AFP/VLADIMIR SIMICEK
There is a winner in the runoff election for the Slovak presidency. The Social Democrat Peter Pellegrini wins against the liberal former Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok. He congratulates Pellegrini – and says he is “disillusioned”.
KParliament Speaker Peter Pellegrini won the presidential election in Slovakia more clearly than expected. The still unofficial result of the State Election Commission published on Sunday 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 Ivan 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. He also explicitly referred to the position of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose SPD is rooted in the same European party family.
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”.
Korcok urged that Pellegrini as president “will be independent and that he will act according to his own convictions and not under orders.” Korcok was alluding to the fact that Pellegrini is an ally of the Russia-friendly Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Presidential candidate Ivan Korcok: “Disappointed and disillusioned”
Source: dpa/Petr David Josek
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.
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.
When he cast his vote in the second round of elections on Saturday, Pellegrini assured that the vote was “not about the future direction of foreign policy.” Slovakia will continue to be a “strong member of the EU and NATO,” said the 48-year-old.
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.