Voters in Slovakia voted on Saturday to elect a new president. The options were pro-Western opposition candidate Ivan Korcok and Peter Pellegrini, running for the governing nationalist left coalition.
Polls closed at 10pm local time (20:00 GMT). Initial projections are expected soon, with official results meant to trickle in overnight.
Africa Today News, New York gathered that it was a tight race for the largely ceremonial post, according to final opinion polls in the nation of 5.4 million people.
Last month, Korcok won the first round of voting with 42.5 percent of the votes, while Pellegrini finished second with 37 percent. However, since neither candidate received the minimum 50 percent required to declare a winner, they had to compete in a decisive second round.
Korcok, 60, served as Slovakia’s foreign minister in 2020-2022, and before that as the ambassador to the United States and Germany. He was also the country’s envoy to NATO and the European Union. Korcok firmly supports Slovakia’s EU and NATO memberships.
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Meanwhile, Pellegrini, 48, is a close ally of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico who is known for his pro-Russian policies.
Pellegrini heads the left-wing Hlas (Voice) party – that finished third in parliamentary elections last year – and favours a strong role for the state. His party joined a governing coalition with Fico’s left-wing Smer (Direction) party and the ultranationalist Slovak National Party.
Fico’s government, upon coming to power in September, immediately halted arms deliveries to Ukraine, prompting nationwide protests against its pro-Russian stance and several other policies.
Pellegrini currently serves as Parliament speaker and his victory would cement Fico’s power by giving him and his allies control of strategic posts.
While Slovak presidents do not have many executive powers, they can veto laws or challenge them in the constitutional court. They also nominate constitutional court judges, who may become important in the political strife over the fate of Fico’s reforms, which would dramatically ease punishments for corruption.
Korcok has focused on making clear he does not want Fico and his coalition to have executive positions in the government, and also on speaking out against an anti-Western policy shift by Fico.