Surprisingly clear: Korcok wins the first round of the Slovak presidential elections, Princess Kate has cancer

Liberal former foreign minister and diplomat Ivan Korcok surprisingly won the first round of Slovakia’s presidential elections. According to the official final results published by the State Election Commission on Sunday, he received 42.5 percent of the votes.

However, because none of the nine participating candidates obtained an absolute majority, a second election on April 6 is necessary. Korcok, who is backed by the liberal opposition, will meet Social Democratic Parliament Speaker Peter Pellegrini. Pellegrini, who had been leading in all surveys for a long time, finished with only 37.0 percent.

Pellegrini and the ‘Voice – Social Democracy’ party (Hlas-SD) that he leads are part of a governing coalition led by left-wing populist Prime Minister Robert Fico and the right-wing populist Slovak National Party SNS. In the election campaign he also received support from Fico’s party Smer. However, the co-ruling SNS backed pro-Russian nationalist and former Justice Minister Stefan Harabin, who came third with 11.7 percent.

The election campaign was overshadowed by the war in neighboring Ukraine and by domestic political disputes between the Fico government and the liberal opposition. Korcok and the opposition want decisive military support for Ukraine, Pellegrini, following the example of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, urges caution. Turnout in Saturday’s elections was 51.9 percent. (sda/dpa)