According to the Slovak Statistics Agency, with 96 percent of the votes counted, Pellegrini has garnered support of 54.3 percent to 45.6 percent for liberal former foreign minister Ivan Korcok. Korcok is said to have admitted defeat.
Pellegrini has the support of pro-Russia current Prime Minister Robert Fico who appears to be on course to re-direct the country’s politics in the direction taken by Hungary and its Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The war in Ukraine
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One issue that came into focus during the election campaign is the war in Ukraine.
Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is behind Pellegrini, recently claimed that Ukraine will have to give up part of its territory to Russia to end the war. Slovakia announced last autumn that it had stopped military aid to Ukraine.
EU-friendly Korcok, for his part, has the support of the opposition. In contrast to Pellegrini, he wants to strengthen ties to the West and send support to Ukraine. He narrowly won the first round of the presidential election.