Pro-Russia candidate Peter Pellegrini has won Slovakia's presidential election, consolidating Prime Minister Robert Fico's leftist government, Press TV reported.
Election results on Saturday from 99.66 per cent of voting districts showed Pellegrini bagged 53.26 per cent of the votes, versus 46.73 per cent for pro-Western opposition candidate Ivan Korcok.
The 48-year-old president-elect said his victory meant Fico's government would have support for its programmes, and would not face an "opposition, opportunistic power center" in reference to outgoing liberal president Zuzana Caputova.
"I will be a president who will support the government in its efforts for improving people's lives. I will do everything for Slovakia to forever remain on the side of peace and not the side of war."
Slovak presidents do not have many executive powers, but can veto laws or challenge them in the constitutional court.
The country held the first round of voting last month, however, neither of the candidates won the minimum 50 per cent. Korcok won the first round after receiving 42.5 per cent of the votes, while Pellegrini finished second with 37 per cent.
Pellegrini has had a long-time alliance with Fico. The current speaker of parliament later split from Fico to set up his own party, Hlas (Voice), more centrist and liberal than Fico's populist-leftist SMER-SSD, but formed a government with Fico and the nationalist SNS last October.
He, seen as more moderate than Fico, said his victory would not mean a rush to drastically change foreign policy, stressing that he will continue to be a strong member of the EU and NATO.
bd-pratidin/GR
