BUDAPEST, April 7 Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of Hungary Peter Szijjártó congratulated the head of the Slovak parliament, Peter Pellegrini, on his victory in the presidential elections in Slovakia.
Pellegrini, who opposes arms supplies to Ukraine, won the presidential elections in Slovakia, gaining 53.12% of the votes in the second round.
«Congratulations, Mr. President! New reinforcements for the forces defending sovereignty and advocating peace,» Szijjártó wrote on the social network Facebook*, posting a photo with Pellegrini.
In March, Pellegrini visited Budapest; at a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, both politicians said that they were against sending Western troops and weapons to Ukraine and believed that it was necessary to start peace negotiations as soon as possible.
Pellegrini previously stated that he would not allow the Slovak military to be sent to Ukraine if he wins the presidential election. He also said that further arming of Ukraine does not produce any results and only leads to the death of people. Pellegrini also expressed concern that pumping Kyiv up with arms could ultimately end in disaster, and suggested that the best solution would be to begin peace negotiations as soon as possible.
The elected president of Slovakia advocates for an end to hostilities in Ukraine and even promised that if he wins the elections, he will support peace talks in Bratislava, albeit at the expert level to begin with.
Forty-eight-year-old Pellegrini will head parliament in the fall of 2023 and is also chairman of the Hlas (Voice) party, which is part of the government coalition with the party of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, known for his criticism of pumping arms into Ukraine. Pellegrini himself was previously a member of the party led by Fico, but in 2020 he left it after a split, creating his own social democratic association. Fico stated that he would vote for his former party colleague because he was confident that “in matters of principle, Pellegrini will stand for Slovakia and not against it.”
* The activities of Meta (social networks Facebook and Instagram) are prohibited in Russia as extremist.