In a little over a month’s time, nearly half a year after Robert Fico assumed the role of prime minister following a clear victory in parliamentary elections in September 2023, Slovaks will head to polling stations to cast their ballots for a new president in what will be something of a referendum of Fico’s left-right anti-globalist coalition.
Among a crowded field of contenders who have thrown their hats into the ring are the speaker of Slovakia’s Parliament, Peter Pellegrini; former Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok; former Prime Minister Igor Matovič; former President of the Supreme Court and Minister of Justice Stefan Harabin; former UN diplomat Jan Kubiš; and the head of the Slovak National Party (SNS) and Deputy Speaker of Slovakia’s Parliament Andrej Danko (SNS).
Public opinion polls have indicated that Pellegrini, a member of the Fico-allied Voice–Social Democracy (Hlas) party, is the frontrunner in the contest for the largely ceremonial position.
In 2020, Pellegrini, an economist by profession, left Fico’s SMER party to form Hlas after disagreements between him and the prime minister over the direction of the party. In 2023, after his Hlas placed second in the parliamentary elections, Pellegrini went on to form a coalition with Fico’s SMER and national-conservative SNS.
Pellegrini’s lead has tightened in recent weeks, with former Prime Minister Matovič’s last-minute candidacy announcement having shaken up the race.
Per the latest opinion polls, conducted between February 14th and 18th, Pellegrini leads among first-round candidates with 35.8% of the vote, followed by Former Foreign Minister Korčok who is trailing closely behind at 34.6%. Matovič’s entry into the race appears to have diverted support away from Korčok, who served as foreign minister in Matovič’s coalition government in 2020 and 2021.
Apart from his previous role as the foreign minister, Korčok served as Slovak Ambassador to Germany. He also has represented Slovakia in NATO and acted as the country’s permanent representative to the EU.
In third place, polling at 10% and as one of the primary challengers to the favored Pellegrini-Korčok pair, is Stefan Harabin. The Former President of the Supreme Court and Minister of Justice is no stranger to controversy. He’s facing charges for statements he made on social media where, a day after Russian troops entered Ukraine, he wrote that he would’ve “done exactly the same thing as [Russian President Vladimir Putin].” According to Harabin, Putin acted within the bounds of international law. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he spoke out against the mandatory masks.
Matovič, who leads the liberal-centrist Ordinary People’s Party (EPP), currently sits at 6.6% according to the latest polling data. The former prime minister’s entry into the race, according to Václav Hříc, director of the Slovakian market research agency AKO, “likely erased a month of Ivan Korčok’s campaign efforts.”
Among those in the race with the strongest electoral prospects, both Korčok and Matovič are considered the most pro-EU, Western-oriented candidates. The left-liberal party Progressive Slovakia, the strongest opposition party in the parliament, has backed Korčok’s presidential bid.
Jan Kubiš, who served as the foreign minister under Fico’s administration from 2006 to 2009, has also held roles such as Slovakia’s ambassador to the United Nations and secretary general of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). At 71 years old, Kubiš is the oldest candidate. The latest polls have placed him at around 5%.
Deputy Speaker of Slovakia’s Parliament Andrej Danko (SNS), when he declared his candidacy for the presidency in mid-January, said, in rather harsh language, that he was doing so because he would not tolerate Slovakia being ruled by what he called “Sunni Democrats” and “liberals.” Danko is only polling at just over 1%.
Slovakia’s presidential elections take place in two rounds, with the victor being determined by the candidate who garners over 50% of the votes. As is the case with other two-round election systems across Europe, should this not occur in the first round, a second round will ensue two weeks later, featuring the top two vote-getting candidates.
