Pellegrini elected Slovakia president in boost for pro-Russia PM Fico
Al Jazeera
Parliament Speaker Peter Pellegrini wins second round of presidential election, cementing the grip of pro-Russian PM Robert Fico.
Slovak nationalist-left government candidate Peter Pellegrini has won the country’s presidential election, cementing the grip of pro-Russian Prime Minister Robert Fico over the country.
Pellegrini had 53.26 percent of the vote, versus 46.73 percent for pro-Western opposition candidate Ivan Korcok, results from 99.66 percent of voting districts showed on Saturday.
Fico, who took power for the fourth time last October, has turned the country’s foreign policy to more pro-Russian views and initiated reforms of criminal law and the media, raising concerns over weakening the rule of law.
Slovak presidents do not have many executive powers but can veto laws or challenge them in the Constitutional Court. They nominate Constitutional Court judges, who may become important in political strife over the fate of Fico’s reforms, which would dramatically ease punishments for corruption.
Fico’s coalition which includes a party headed by Pellegrini halted Slovak official shipments of weapons for Ukraine and Fico has spoken about what he called Western influence in the war which only led to Slavic nations killing each other.
