Usually they are there to protest against pro-Russian populist Prime Minister Roberto Fico, who returned to power in Bratislava in October 2023, but on Tuesday, March 26, they demonstrated in a brazen rally. Most of the thousands of participants at Freedom Square in the small town of Banská Bystrica in central Slovakia were pro-Western in the second round of presidential elections held on Saturday, April 6 in this central European country. I was there to support candidate Ivan Korkok.
“We want to live in Europe, not in Russia! And we need strong symbols to prove it,” explained architect Rubika Pawklova, who came with several friends, including one People were proudly waving European flags. They all saw Korcok as their last hope to prevent their country from falling completely into the model set by neighboring Hungary and its nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Korcok, 60, has been protesting in vain all winter against the country's highly controversial judicial reforms and is now among the Slovaks who fear the bill will take control of public broadcasting. I promised the following if I were elected.do everything to ensure [their] This country remains free and democratic. ”
From a small stage hastily erected in the square, the former diplomat and former foreign minister of the centrist government in Slovakia from 2020 to 2023 drew parallels with the 1968 crackdown on Ukraine. , criticized Fico's anti-Ukraine stance. Spring in Prague. “It was here that I saw the Warsaw Pact occupation forces in my father's arms,'' recalls Korcok, a native of Banská Bystrica. “It affected me for the rest of my life.'' He claimed that “Slovakia is not moving in the right direction” because Fico's government has stopped all arms deliveries to Kiev, adding that its large eastern neighbor is “under US influence” and “is one of the most important countries in the world.” It is one of the most corrupt countries.” ”
Although the role of the Slovak president is essentially an honorable one, Korcok asserted that: Le Monde “Thanks to the strong mandate of direct elections,” he said, “we can explain how important it is for Slovakia to remain part of Western politics” in the context of coexistence with the government. He therefore intends to continue the legacy of current liberal president Zuzana Kaptova, who has chosen not to run for re-election, exhausted by the coronavirus pandemic and the toxic political atmosphere that has prevailed in the country since the Ukraine war. is. .
extremely close vote
Peter Pellegrini, the candidate nominated by Fico's majority, accused Korcok of wanting to “draw Slovakia into war,'' even though the president has no authority over the military. He is shamelessly running an election campaign. “The question is whether the head of state will be a warmonger like Mr. Korcok, who supports everything the West says without hesitation, or whether he will be a moderate, Peter Pellegrini, who recognizes the value of peace.” Fico said.
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