Written by Jan Lopatka
(Reuters) – Pro-Western diplomat and former foreign minister Ivan Korkok hopes to ride a wave of support buoyed by his first-round victory to eclipse party candidates for government. Peter Pellegrini The Slovak presidential election run-off was held on Saturday.
Mr Colcoc, 59, surprisingly defeated Mr Pellegrini, 48, in the first round two weeks ago, pledging to be a challenger to the government. Robert Ficotook a pro-Russian stance toward Ukraine and initiated reforms criticized for weakening the rule of law.
The final polls before the polls were suspended showed a heated race.
Wednesday's NMS Agency poll on the news site www.sme.sk showed Mr. Korcok leading 51.7% to 48.3%, while Tuesday's Focus Agency TV Marchisa poll gave Mr. Pellegrini 50.8% to 49.2%. It was shown that the company was in the lead.
“We will decide on Saturday whether to maintain the balance of power or whether to grant the last constitutional position to the government camp,” Colcok said in an election video on Wednesday.
Slovakia's president has little executive power, but he can veto laws and challenge them in the Constitutional Court. They will nominate judges to the Constitutional Court, which could be important in the upcoming fight over Fico's criminal law reforms, which significantly ease penalties for corruption.
Presidents like Zuzana Caputova, a pro-Western liberal who left office without seeking a second five-year term, also represent the country in various forums abroad.
Mr. Pellegrini supports a shift to what Mr. Fico calls a “sovereign” foreign policy, meaning that Slovakia would remain an EU and NATO member but take its own course in relations with countries such as Russia. .
“Slovakia should not just passively accept instructions from Washington and Brussels,” Pellegrini said in a televised debate on Tuesday.
Pellegrini said he promoted peace by supporting negotiations in neighboring Ukraine rather than military aid. Ukraine and her allies argue that this will only give Russia an advantage on the battlefield.
Sociologist Michal Vasecka said that while Mr. Korcok represented an attempt to keep Slovakia in line with its Western allies, Mr. Pellegrini's victory meant that the nationalist PiS was elected to the government and He said it would create a situation similar to the one that prevailed in Poland until last year, when he controlled both presidential positions.
“He may take a stand against some excesses… but he will not stand up to Fico on important issues that could uphold the rule of law,” Vasecka said.
Korcok, an independence advocate, served as Slovakia's special envoy to the EU and then ambassador to the United States before taking up the foreign ministry post in the centre-right government from 2021 to 2022.
At the time, Slovakia was a loyal ally of Ukraine, providing air defense and fighter jets. After taking power, Fico's cabinet suspended the supply of public supplies.
Pellegrini, who currently heads the parliament, is a longtime ally of Fico, who was forced to resign amid public protests against corruption following the murder of an investigative journalist in 2018, and was handpicked by Pellegrini to be prime minister. .
He later split from Fico to found his own party, Hlas (Voice), which is more centrist and liberal than Fico's populist left-wing SMER-SSD, but left the government with Fico and the nationalist SNS in October last year. Established.
(Reporting by Jan Lopartka in Prague; Editing by Peter Graf)
