Hungary FM Congratulates Slovakia's New President + Video

The second round in Slovakia’s presidential election ended on Saturday, with Peter Pellegrini, speaker of the Slovak parliament and president of the second largest governing party, the Hlas-SD (Voice), backed by the Hungarian Alliance, winning the race. Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto welcomed the decision of the Slovak voters, and Krisztian Forro, president of the Hungarian Alliance party in Slovakia, also believes that lending support to Pellegrini was a good move.

Peter Pellegrini szlovák parlamenti elnök, a Hang (Hlas–SD) párt vezetője, elnökjelölt az államfőválasztás második fordulóját követő eredményváró rendezvényre érkezik Pozsonyban 2024. április 6-án. Fotó: Martin Divisek Forrás: MTI/EPA

"Congratulations, Mr President! Another confirmation for pro-sovereignty and pro-peace forces," Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto posted on his Facebook page in response to Peter Pellegrini, speaker of the Slovak parliament and president of the Hlas-SD (Voice), the second largest governing party, having been elected Slovakia's next president.

The second round of the presidential elections in Slovakia, Hungary's northern neighbor, took place on Saturday, with voters casting their ballots for Peter Pellegrini or his opponent, Ivan Korcok, former foreign minister, until 10pm. The latest figures released by the Slovak Statistics Office show that Pellegrini won the presidential race, securing 53.12 percent of the votes. Turnout was 60.19 percent, the second highest in the history of presidential elections in Slovakia. It is also remarkable that more than one million people cast their votes for each candidate.

Pellegrini received more than 1.4 million votes, and about 1.2 million Slovaks voted for Korcok.

Pellegrini's victory is good news for ethnic Hungarians in Slovakia. Krisztian Forro, president of the Hungarian Alliance party in Slovakia, told the news portal korkep.sk

this election has also shown that our community has strength, that it can stand on the right side, and I am confident that the coming period will prove that this was a good decision.

Ivan Korcok advanced from the first round of the presidential election held two weeks ago to the current runoff with 42.5 percent of the votes, while Peter Pellegrini gained 37 percent of the votes, Hungary's state news Agency MTI recalled. Under Slovakia's legislation, in the second round of the presidential elections, winning does not require at least half of the votes of all eligible voters, but a majority of the votes cast.

 Cover photo: Speaker Pellegrini, leader of the Hlas-SD (Voice) party and presidential candidate, arrives at his campaign headquarters in Bratislava on April 6, 2024, to await the results of the second round of the presidential elections (Photo: MTI/EPA/Martin Divisek)