Russia and Ukraine are key issues between the two leading candidates in a close election campaign.
Slovak voters went to the polls on Saturday to elect a new president, choosing between pro-Western opposition candidate Ivan Korkok and Peter Pellegrini, running from the ruling Nationalist Left Coalition.
Voting ended at 10pm local time (20:00 GMT). Initial predictions are expected to be released soon, with official results expected to trickle out overnight.
Final polls in the country of 5.4 million people showed close races, mostly for ceremonial posts.
In the first round of voting last month, Mr. Colcoc won with 42.5% of the vote, while Mr. Pellegrini came in second with 37%. The two faced off in the decisive second round, but at the time neither could score at least 50 percent.
Korcok, 60, served as Slovakia's foreign minister from 2020 to 2022, and before that served as ambassador to the United States and Germany. He was also the country's special envoy to NATO and the European Union. Korcok is a firm supporter of Slovakia's membership in the EU and NATO.
Pellegrini, 48, is a close ally of populist Prime Minister Roberto Fico, known for his pro-Russian policies.
Pellegrini is the leader of the left-wing party Fras (Voice), which finished third in last year's parliamentary elections, and supports a strong role for the states. His party was part of a coalition government with Fico's leftist Smer (Direction) party and the ultranationalist Slovak People's Party.
Fico's government halted arms deliveries to Ukraine shortly after taking power in September, sparking nationwide protests against its pro-Russian stance and several other policies.
Pellegrini is currently the president of parliament, and his victory would give him and his allies control of strategic positions and cement Fico's power.
little executive authority
Slovakia's president does not have much executive power, but he can veto laws and challenge them in the Constitutional Court. They have also nominated constitutional court judges who could be key players in the political battle over the fate of the Fico reform, which would have significantly eased penalties for corruption.
Mr. Colcoc is focused on making it clear that he does not want Mr. Fico and his allies in senior government positions, and on speaking out against Mr. Fico's anti-Western policy shift.
“We want to be at the beginning of a process that means improving the lives of our people and clarifying Slovakia's belonging,” Korcok said after voting in Senec, 35 kilometers (20 miles) northeast of Bratislava.
Pellegrini tried to portray Korcok as a warmonger who supported armed Ukraine and suggested he might bring Slovak troops into the war, a charge Korcok denied.
But Pellegrini is seen as more moderate than Fico. “This is not about the future direction of our foreign policy. I, like the other candidates, are about ensuring that we remain strong members of the EU and NATO,” he said in suburban Robinka. spoke after the vote. capital.
Meanwhile, President Zuzana Caputova, a retiring human rights lawyer who is not seeking re-election for a second term, criticized the war rhetoric in a televised address on Wednesday.
“We regret that fear play was part of this campaign,” she said.
“I had the opportunity to know both presidential candidates during their five-year term, and neither Peter Pellegrini nor Ivan Korkok intends to drag us into any war, nor do they intend to send our soldiers to Ukraine. I can say with a clear conscience that no.”
