Peter Pellegrini Becomes Slovakia’s Sixth President

Peter Pellegrini, the candidate of the nationalist-left government, has won Slovakia's presidential election, beating liberal, pro-western opposition candidate Ivan Korčok. 

Pellegrini, who is a close ally of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, won 53.85% of the vote with the ballots from more than 98% polling stations counted in runoff election. This is a victory for Pellegrini, who vows to ensure that Slovakia remains on the side of peace and not war. 

Pellegrini will be Slovakia's sixth president

• Pellegrini will be Slovakia's sixth president since the country gained independence after the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993. He succeeds Zuzana Čaputová, the country’s first female head of state. 
• As the country's president, Pellegrini will be responsible for picking the prime minister after parliamentary elections, swearing in the new government, and appointing constitutional court judges. He can also veto laws, but parliament can override the veto with a simple majority, and challenge them at the constitutional court. The head of state also has the right to pardon convicts.
• Pellegrini, who favors a strong role for the state, leads the left-wing Hlas (Voice) party, which finished third in the vote and joined a governing coalition with Fico and the ultranationalist Slovak National party. 
• The new government has stopped sending weapons to Ukraine.
• Recently, thousands of people across Slovakia took to the streets to protest against Fico’s pro-Russian policies and other measures, including plans to amend the penal code and take control of the public media. 
• In 2018, Pellegrini became the Prime Minister succeeding Fico, who was his former deputy in Smer. 
• Fico had resigned from his position due to widespread street protests against the government's handling of the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée.
• Fico and Pellegrini have been in and out of alliances in Slovakian politics. In 2020, Fico left Smer after a scandal-tainted loss in the election. 
• Pellegrini won the election, while Fico bounced back from his two previous presidential election defeats. Ten years ago, Fico lost the presidential vote to Andrej Kiska, while Čaputová defeated a candidate supported by Fico in the 2019 ballot.

About Slovakia

Capital: Bratislava

EU member country: since 1 May 2004

Currency: euro. 

Schengen: Since 21 December 2007

Political system

Slovakia is a parliamentary democratic republic where the prime minister holds the most executive power and serves as the head of government. The president is the formal head of the executive, but has very limited powers.