Ivan Korčok. (source: TASR)
Former diplomat and ex-foreign minister Ivan Korčok and Speaker of Parliament and Hlas party leader Peter Pellegrini will meet in a run-off round of the presidential election on April 6.
After 100 percent of the votes were counted, the ex-diplomat the first round with 42.51 percent (958,393 votes), followed by Pellegrini with 37.05 percent (834,718 votes).
"I have my feet on the ground," Korčok said. "Ahead of the second round, we're all aware that we will have to do more and approach voters across the spectrum."
Korčok dominated in western and northern Slovakia, but also in the Košice Region and in the Banská Bystrica area. Korčok and Pellegrini come from Banská Bystrica, but it is Korčok who came first in the Banská Bystrica district.
Pro-Russian candidate and former judge Štefan Harabin came third. His voters are expected to support Pellegrini in the second round if they decide to vote on April 6. However, Harabin has repeatedly said that he will not vote for Pellegrini.
"My voters know what to do," he said on Saturday night, adding that their priority is the preservation of the state, national sovereignty and peace.
Krisztián Forró, who chairs the Hungarian minority party Aliancia, won almost 3 percent, ending in fourth place. He is believed to be recommending his voters to vote for Pellegrini ahead of the second round. He'll announce his decision on Sunday.
"I can't imagine that the majority of the Hungarian community would vote for Mr. Korčok," Forró told the Markíza television network a week ago.
Korčok can rely on the voters of Slovensko leader and ex-premier Igor Matovič. Korčok served as foreign minister in the years 2020-2022 when Matovič, who was later replaced by Eduard Heger, was the premier.
The turnout in the first round reached 51.91 percent, higher than in the first round of the presidential election (48.74 percent) five years ago.
""We care about the fate of Slovakia. It turned out that we are not indifferent to our future," said President Zuzana Čaputová in reaction to the turnout.
Saturday's Median poll for the public broadcaster RTVS predicted Korčok's win, as did electoral predictions by the dailies Sme and Denník N.
Despite second place, the Hlas leader, who served as prime minister in a Smer-led government in the years 2018-2020 after the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak, described his result as a success on Saturday night.
Ex-Smer party official Pellegrini dominated most of the pre-election polls. According to them, Pellegrini is expected to win the second round. The latest Focus poll for TV Markíza predicts Pellegrini's win in early April. He can rely on the support of voters supporting his coalition partners, Smer and SNS parties, in addition to his own party, Hlas, and Forró's Aliancia.
Pellegrini can also count on Harabin voters, according to the Focus poll presented by TV Markíza on Saturday night.
Pellegrini's colleague and Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok (Hlas), who recently appeared on a show hosted by a neo-Nazi conspiracy theorist, said that people will decide in the second round if they prefer war or peace, quarrels or calm.
Korčok and Pellegrini are pro-European and pro-NATO candidates, but their positions on the war in Ukraine differ. Korčok is a firm supporter of Ukraine, while the Hlas leader and the Fico government, of which Pellegrini's party is an important part, refuse to send military aid to Ukraine - although they support commercial military deals - and calls for peace. They are not calling on Russia to withdraw troops from Ukraine.
"It'll mainly be about people realising what they want," the minister added.
