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Populist Peter Pellegrini has been elected president of Slovakia, succeeding the liberal Zuzana Caputova.
Mr Pellegrini, 48, defeated the pro-Western Ivan Korcok, a former diplomat, with 53% of the vote.
A former prime minister, he’s an ally of nationalist Prime Minister Robert Fico, and shares the PM’s dovish perspective in the direction of Russia.
Mr Fico and his allies now management Slovakia’s parliament, authorities and shortly the president’s workplace.
Slovakia had been certainly one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies earlier than Mr Fico got here to energy in October on a pledge to halt provides of Slovak Military navy shares to Kyiv. With Mr Pellegrini changing Mrs Caputova, Ukraine has now definitively misplaced a voice of assist in an EU and Nato capital.
Mr Fico has referred to as for an finish to Western navy assist for Ukraine, a right away ceasefire and peace talks with Moscow. Mr Fico mentioned just lately President Vladimir Putin had been “unfairly demonised” and argued admitting Ukraine to Nato would mark the start of a 3rd world conflict.
Mr Pellegrini’s marketing campaign echoed a few of that Moscow-friendly rhetoric, accusing Mr Korcok of being a warmonger who would ship Slovak troopers to struggle in Ukraine – a constitutional energy the president doesn’t have.
As soon as Mrs Caputova steps down in June, there will probably be now not be any high-level official in Slovakia – a rustic which barely a yr in the past donated its total fleet of MiG-29 plane to Ukraine – who unequivocally backs Kyiv’s effort to defend its territory with power.
The liberal pro-Western opposition additionally accuses Mr Pellegrini – as head of the coalition Hlas occasion and chairman of parliament – of remaining silent as Mr Fico took a wrecking ball to Slovakia’s legal justice system, notably abolishing the Particular Prosecutor’s Workplace, which was arrange 20 years in the past to research critical corruption and financial crime.
It had tried a variety of senior officers in Mr Fico’s Smer occasion, and had been overseeing the prosecution of these believed to be liable for the homicide of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova in 2018.
The killings had been a seismic occasion in Slovak politics. The fallout ended Mr Fico’s second premiership in 2018 and led to the liberal, pro-Western Zuzana Caputova being elected president on a wave of in style anger at official corruption and organised crime.
Robert Fico’s authorities just lately set its sights on Slovakia’s public broadcaster, submitting plans to abolish the establishment and substitute it with one beneath digital state management. These plans had been placed on the again burner after a surprisingly poor displaying from Peter Pellegrini within the first spherical of the presidential election two weeks in the past.
The opposition fears a reinvigorated Robert Fico will resubmit them – they usually say President-elect Pellegrini is unlikely to face in his means.
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