The presidential election in Slovakia has probably been decided. In the runoff election, after most votes were counted, Peter Pellegrini was ahead.
The Social Democratic parliamentary speaker Peter Pellegrini is likely to have won the presidential election in Slovakia. After almost 90 percent of the electoral districts were counted, he was clearly ahead of the liberal opposition candidate Ivan Korcok with 44 percent, with almost 56 percent of the votes, as the electoral commission reported. In particular, those electoral districts in which Korcok won in the first round had not yet been counted. But according to observers, Korcok’s deficit was too great to be able to catch up.
Pellegrini is an ally of the Russia-friendly head of government Robert Fico, who has been in office since autumn 2023 and who is denying Ukraine military aid to defend itself against Russia. The 48-year-old has, among other things, questioned Ukraine’s sovereignty and called on Kiev to make peace with Russia. The president primarily has a representative role in the small NATO and EU state, but he is also commander in chief of the armed forces and can veto laws passed by parliament.
Until now, President Zuzana Čaputová, who is no longer running for president, was seen as Figo’s opponent and repeatedly vetoed bills. That should be over now. Pellegrini represents many of Fico’s positions, including the critical stance against arms deliveries to Ukraine. Read more about the two candidates in Slovakia here.
Voter turnout higher than on March 23rd
Liberal incumbent Zuzana Caputova did not seek a second five-year term despite her still high popularity. In the first round on March 23, Korcok, who was supported by the liberal and conservative opposition parties, surprisingly won by five and a half percentage points over Pellegrini, who was supported by part of the left-wing national three-party coalition led by the left-wing populist Robert Fico. For the runoff election, polls suggested a neck-and-neck race.
The decisive factor should be the voting behavior of the supporters of seven candidates who were eliminated after the first round of voting. According to preliminary information, voter turnout was almost 60 percent, clearly higher than the first round of voting on March 23rd with 52 percent.
This was particularly true for polling stations in districts where the majority recently voted for the opposition candidate Korcok. The only clear trend that emerged after around half of the votes were counted was that both candidates had roughly the same chances of winning.
