SMIRKING VLAD
Blow for the West as pro-Putin candidate elected as president in key Ukraine ally & Nato nation Slovakia
One of Pellegrini's allies had also questioned Ukraine's sovereignty, saying Putin had been 'unfairly demonised'
PRO-Putin candidate Peter Pellegrini has won Slovakia's presidential elections in a major blow for the West.
Pellegrini, 48, who will now rule the key Ukraine ally and NATO nation, has a dovish attitude towards Russia and rose to power with a Moscow-friendly rhetoric.
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The populist took the win on Saturday against pro-Western former diplomat Ivan Korcok, consolidating the grip of the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Robert Fico and tilting the country further towards Russia.
Pellegrini, who had been PM from 2018 to 2020, is an ally of Fico's and shares his pacifist stance on Putin's nation.
Slovakia had been one of Ukraine's staunchest friends before Fico took office in October on a promise to cease supply of Slovak Army military supplies to Kyiv.
Fico had previously advocated for an end to Western military backing for Ukraine, an immediate cease-fire, and peace negotiations with Russia.
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He also said that President Vladimir Putin has been "unfairly demonised" and that adding Ukraine to NATO would spark a third world war.
With Pellegrini replacing anti-Russia Zuzana Caputova, Ukraine has officially lost a voice of support in an EU and NATO country.
On Saturday, opposition-backed Korcok conceded defeat as nearly complete results showed he had received 47 percent of the vote against former prime minister Pellegrini's 53 percent.
"It is a huge satisfaction," Pellegrini said in Bratislava, vowing "to ensure that Slovakia remains on the side of peace and not on the side of war".
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Ahead of the run-off, Pellegrini had said he advocated peace talks with Russia, while Korcok argued he did not believe Ukraine should give up territory to achieve peace.
The newly-elected president argued on Saturday that the election was "not about the future direction of foreign policy in Slovakia".
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He had said whatever the outcome, "we will continue to be a strong member of the European Union and NATO."
Divisions over the Ukraine war dominated the run-off vote given the starkly opposing views of the conflict by the two candidates for the post.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine became a fixture of the electoral campaign in the EU and NATO member of 5.4 million people after populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, Pellegrini's ally, questioned Ukraine's sovereignty and called for peace with Russia.
The government in office since October includes Fico's Smer party, Pellegrini's Hlas and the small far-right SNS.
Pellegrini, 48, thanked his coalition partners after his win.
Korcok said he was "disappointed" but respected the result.
"I want to express my belief that Peter Pellegrini will be independent and will act according to his own convictions and without orders," the 60-year-old added.
"It turns out that it is possible to become the president of the Slovak Republic by spreading hatred. The campaign can also be won by making me a war candidate."
Fico had called Korcok a "warmonger" in a video ahead of the run-off, whose turnout was 61 percent.
He "will support everything the West tells him without hesitation, including dragging Slovakia into the war", the prime minister added.
Fico backed Pellegrini as "a moderate candidate who recognises the value of peace".
Pellegrini became prime minister after Fico was toppled from a previous stint as premier following the murders of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee.
The double murder sparked large rallies that forced Fico's resignation as Kuciak had been working on links between the Italian mafia and Smer-SD.
Though the office is largely ceremonial, Slovakia's president has the power to ratify international treaties as well as veto laws passed by parliament and appoint top judges.
The position also serves as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Pellegrini will be sworn in on June 15, with Slovakia then joining Putin's tinpot empire of failing states and ruthless tyrants.
Axis of evil
Putin's desire to make Russia great again is no secret, and neither is his admiration for the Soviet Union - which collapsed in 1991.
Vlad has called the tyrannical bloc's collapse a "genuine tragedy" - and is believed by some to be seeking to set the map back some 30 years.
Ukraine intelligence warned Russia wants "to neutralise western influence and create a trading space" - in effect a return to the USSR.
Putin has used land grabs along with establishing key alliances with dictators in neighbouring states to expand his influence.
And it ranges far beyond the original borders of the Soviet Union, also striking up alliances in South America and the Middle East.
States who fall out with the West or dictators who need help are seen as an opportunity by Putin.
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Putin isn't alone in his thirst for a new world order, as tyrants across the world are ramping up threats against the West in a "much more violent world", the Nato chief has warned.
Jens Stoltenberg said that autocratic regimes like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are increasingly working together to form "Axis of evil" against Western democracies.
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