Slovaks Elect President As Rivals Spar Over Ukraine

Bratislava, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Apr, 2024) A pro-Western former top diplomat and a Ukraine-sceptic backed by the ruling populists will face off in a presidential election on Saturday that could possibly halt Slovakia's shift towards Russia.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has become a fixture of the electoral campaign in Slovakia, a European Union and NATO member of 5.4 million people.

The two candidates, Peter Pellegrini and Ivan Korcok, are vying to replace outgoing liberal President Zuzana Caputova.

They will square off in a decisive second round as neither won the minimum 50 percent of votes in the first ballot on March 23.

The latest polls suggest the candidates are running nearly neck-and-neck.

Pellegrini, the 48-year-old parliament speaker, is credited with 51 percent of the vote and Korcok with 49 percent, according to the NMS agency opinion survey.

Russia's war in Ukraine, now in its third year, has become a key election issue.

Populist Prime Minister Robert Fico -- a Pellegrini ally -- has questioned the sovereignty of Ukraine and called for peace with Russia.

Korcok, a 59-year-old career diplomat and vocal government critic backed by the opposition, is staunchly pro-Kyiv.