VLADIMIR SIMICEK / AFP Peter Pellegrini, candidate close to the pro-Russian Prime Minister, was elected president of Slovakia this Saturday April 6, 2024.
VLADIMIR SIMICEK / AFP
Peter Pellegrini, candidate close to the pro-Russian Prime Minister, was elected president of Slovakia this Saturday April 6, 2024.
INTERNATIONAL – With 53.85% of the votes, Peter Pellegrini was elected president of the Slovak Republic this Saturday, April 6 in the evening. His opponent, Ivan Korcok, obtained 46.80% of the votes, a less close result than expected by analysts. “It’s a great satisfaction”declared Peter Pellegrini in a speech.
“I want to be a president who will defend the national interests of Slovakia”he then indicated, assuring that he wanted to do everything “ so that Slovakia remains on the side of peace and not on the side of war”. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was indeed one of the key elements of the electoral campaign in that country, particularly since populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, a long-time ally of Peter Pellegrini, called sovereignty into question. of kyiv and called for peace with Moscow.
The current government has thus cut off military aid to neighboring Ukraine in recent months. A position that the election of Pellegrini reinforces.
During his campaign, the candidate tried to discredit his opponent Ivan Korcok by declaring that if the latter were elected, he would send Slovak soldiers to Ukraine. ” VS’is all the more misleading since the President of the Slovak Republic does not have the competence to do so. And he knows it very well », analyse political scientist Sona Szomolanyi with Rfi.
A president with limited powers
“If Pellegrini wins, Slovakia could follow the ‘Orban path’”predicted analyst Tomas Koziaka before the election, in reference to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who wants the Europeans and Americans to put an end to military aid.
Peter Pelligrini will officially become the sixth Slovak president and will replace the liberal Zuzana Caputova from June 15. Although his powers are limited, the president ratifies international treaties, appoints key judges, and is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He can also veto laws passed by Parliament.
Slovak with Italian roots, Peter Pellegrini was nicknamed “ the sexiest politician in Slovakia » by women’s magazines. When announcing his candidacy, he said he was single, adding: “ If I am elected president, I will not be accompanied by a first lady or anyone”. He does, however, have a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog named Gery.
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