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Ivan Korčok, a former diplomat who made it to the second round of Saturday’s presidential election, and the speaker of the Bratislava parliament, Peter Pellegrini, the government’s candidate, stand side by side. However, the pollsters’ predictions are divided. According to the Focus agency, Pellegrini would win the second round with 50.8 percent of the votes, and Ivan Korčok would get 49.2 percent of the votes. NMS Market Research, another institute that conducts similar surveys, found the reverse order. According to the results of the poll conducted by them, Ivan Korčok will be the runner-up with 51.7 percent, while Peter Pellegrini would lose by 48.3 percent in the race for the presidential seat. Both surveys were conducted between March 28 and April 2, on a sample of approximately one thousand people.
The two presidential candidates clashed again on Tuesday evening in front of the cameras of Markíza television. They both had 20 minutes to express their opinions on each topic. They also received a question about Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. “We are friends, we treat each other and we have no problem talking on the phone at any time,” answered Peter Pellegrini, adding that the V4 should be discussed again, because this alliance can also strengthen the voice of Central Europe on difficult topics . And Ivan Korčok stated that he did not like the fact that Prime Minister Robert Fico said during his visit to Hungary that he would enforce Hungarian interests. “This is in stark contrast to your statement that Slovakia wants to pursue a sovereign and independent foreign policy,” the former head of Slovak diplomacy pointed out to his opponent.
Prime Minister Robert Fico also joined the battle of the presidential candidates, who in a short video uploaded to his social media site called Ivan Korčok a political amateur who “would sell Slovakia for a garage with a hole in it.” According to the Prime Minister, Korčok has no opinion, he always followed the views of his superiors. The prime minister also said that Korčok follows the instructions of foreign-funded NGOs and the liberal media. “Therefore, it is extremely dangerous for the country if he is elected head of state, because we know what his breadwinners have planned for Slovakia and how much they hate the concept of a sovereign Slovak foreign policy,” stated Robert Fico.
The second round of the Slovak presidential election will be held on Saturday, April 6. A campaign silence will come into effect at midnight on Wednesday, after which no new poll results can be published. Voters can cast their votes on Saturday between seven in the morning and ten in the evening. The candidate who receives the most votes will be the new president of Slovakia.
