Peter Pellegrini, one of the most popular politicians in Slovakia, He won the presidential election this Saturday with 55% of the vote, as a candidate for the populist government and close to Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, and defended it The end of the war is negotiated with Russia And Stop supporting Ukraine militarily.
Despite its popularity The previous speaker of parliament came second two weeks ago in the first round of elections after the liberal and pro-European Ivan Korcok, who lost this Saturday’s elections.
For this reason, Pellegrini further intensified his speech on the topic of “peace” in Ukraine, to try to win over the voters of Stefan Harabin, who came third two weeks ago, with an anti-NATO and neutrality message on foreign policy. In fact, the president-elect received half a million more votes than in the first round.
“I would never allow a Slovak soldier to enter Ukraine. “Everything must be done so that people do not kill each other, on both sides,” Pellegrini said in the latest televised debate on the war triggered by the Russian invasion.
Pellegrini is the leader of Hlas (The Voice), the party that forms the government together with the Smer of Robert Fico, the populist prime minister, and the ultranationalist SNS.
Both Smer and Hlas were suspended from the European Social Democrats faction because of this pact with the Ultras.
Korcok had warned that if Pellegrini won, there would be no counterweight to the Fico government, which is very close to the Hungarian ultra-nationalist Viktor Orbán and represents pro-Russian and anti-immigrant positions.
Pellegrini underwent political training under the tutelage of Fico and, after first being a parliamentary assistant and then a deputy, his political career took off in 2014 when he began to take on important roles within the SMER and the government.
In 2018, Fico gave him the premiership when he was forced to resign amid public outrage over the murder of Ján Kuciak, a journalist who investigated links between organized crime and political power.
Pellegrini He founded his own political party in 2020 and tried to distance himself from Ficowhich was considered politically settled at the time.
In fact, the main criticism he receives is that he has not managed to distance himself from the figure of Fico and there are doubts as to whether, as head of state, he will be able to put an end to some of the executive reforms that violate the law to promote the rule of law and the fight against corruption.
In terms of foreign policy, Pellegrini supports the theses of the current government, which no longer supports Kiev militarily, and advocates negotiations with Russia, even at the price of Ukraine having to give up the areas occupied by Moscow. He also rejects Ukraine’s accession to NATO.
On social issues, it opposes same-sex civil partnerships in a country where the definition of marriage as a bond between a man and a woman is included in the Magna Carta.