Slovakia votes this Saturday March 23 for the presidential election, shortly after the return of pro-Russian Robert Fico to the role of Prime Minister. Candidate Peter Pellegrini, President of Parliament and ally of the Prime Minister, was leading the polls before the first round. His main opponent, the diplomat Ivan Korcok, advocates a pro-European policy and support for Ukraine. But the campaign was of little interest to the Slovaks, the president having very limited powers.
3 mins
With our correspondent in Bratislava, Alexis Rosenzweig
Two candidates are currently well ahead in the polls in Slovakia : the career diplomat Ivan Korcok, supported by the opposition, and Peter Pellegrini, ally of Prime Minister Robert Fico who, since his return to power, is indeed in a position favorable to Moscow. The head of government repeatedly repeats that supporting the Ukrainian army only serves to prolong a deadly conflict. A conflict for which, according to him, would be responsible “ Ukrainian neo-Nazis “.
“ Slovakia is unfortunately specific in the sense that those who spread the most disinformation are the politicians who are part of the current government », deplores political scientist from Comenius University in Bratislava Sona Szomolanyi. She discusses in particular the way in which the French president’s statements were used in the electoral campaign. THE Prime Minister Robert Fico was quick to distort Emmanuel Macron’s words on sending soldiers to Ukraine, and Peter Pellegrini took up the subject: he claimed that Ivan Korcok, if elected, would send Slovak soldiers to Ukraine. “ But it is all the more false because the President of the Slovak Republic does not have the competence to do it. And he knows it very well “, she insists.
For supporters of the national-populist government coalition, which refuses any military aid to neighboring Ukraine, Peter Pellegrini’s victory would be a means of strengthening the power in place. The latter undertakes highly controversial reforms in the areas of justice and media, notably. For the progressive opposition, this is the only chance to reduce the influence of a Robert Fico whose Russian tropism is denounced by Ivan Korcok. This career diplomat will have his work cut out to win in the second round in two weeks if he manages to qualify this Saturday.
Campaign which little excited the Slovaks
In any case, the Slovaks are going to the polls after a campaign which attracted little interest. In addition, the two contenders were extremely careful to avoid stirring up tensions in the country, according to Jana Vargovčikovà, lecturer in political science at Inalco, the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations.
Both seek to show themselves as peacemakers, calm forces, who would return the country to normal, although the definition of normal remains intentionally quite vague.
The two Slovak presidential candidates were cautious because “the electorate can discredit the candidate who attacks the other,” explains political scientist Jana Vargovčikovà
If the powers of the Slovak president are limited, this vote of the voters serves as a thermometer, to see if the population supports the nationalist and pro-Russian turn of the new government, analyzes Jana Vargovčikovà.
“It will be a form of referendum, since a candidate close to the government opposes one from the opposition,” says Jana Vargovčikovà
Read alsoPresidential election in Slovakia: towards the confirmation of the pro-Russian turn?