by Mish Shedlock, Mish Talk:
Peter Pellegrini, a pro-Russia candidate is elected President of Slovakia. Prime Minister Robert Fico is also pro-Russia. The EU further splinters.
Pellegrini Wins Slovak Presidential Election
Reuters reports Pellegrini Wins Slovak Presidential Election in Boost for Pro-Russian PM Fico
Slovak nationalist-left government candidate Peter Pellegrini won the country’s presidential election on Saturday, cementing the grip of pro-Russian Prime Minister Robert Fico over the country.
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Fico, who took power for the fourth time last October, has turned the country’s foreign policy to more pro-Russian views and initiated reforms of criminal law and the media, which have raised concerns over weakening the rule of law.
Slovak presidents do not have many executive powers, but can veto laws or challenge them in the constitutional court. They nominate constitutional court judges, who may become important in political strife over the fate of Fico’s reforms, which would dramatically ease punishments for corruption.
Pellegrini, 48, said his victory meant the government would have support in its aims, and not face an “opposition, opportunistic power centre” in reference to outgoing liberal president Zuzana Caputova.
The independent Korcok, 60, was Slovakia’s envoy to the EU and later ambassador to the U.S., before taking the foreign affairs portfolio in centre-right governments in 2021-2022. At the time, Slovakia was a staunch ally of Ukraine, providing it with air defence and fighter jets.
Pellegrini has portrayed Korcok as a warmonger for his support for arming Ukraine and suggested he could take Slovak troops into the war in the neighbouring country, which Korcok denied.
EU Parliament Polls in France
Decline of the EU Center
The EU is increasingly fragmented over Ukraine, agricultural policy, and energy policy. There is no chance that the EU increases its push towards EVs.
The European parliament elections are in June and the centrists rate to take some huge losses, especially in France, but all across Europe.
The EU is increasingly dysfunctional. Rules make it near impossible to implement any major changes on the Euro, trade policy, and fiscal policy rules, areas that require unanimity to make changes.
In areas where countries can decide individual actions such as support for Ukraine, Slovokia now firmly joins Germany and Hungary in a pro-Russia stance.
