The ceremony was held in a climate of heightened security following the attack against his close ally, the populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, a month ago.
Pellegrini He called for national unity in his speech at a special session of Parliament in Bratislava. He has become the sixth president of Slovakia since the country gained independence following the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993.
“We are one nation, one society, one Slovakia“, he claimed.
Pellegrini, 48, defeated pro-Western career diplomat Ivan Korcok in the second round of the presidential elections, held on April 6. His victory cemented Fico’s hold on power, giving him and his allies control of key strategic posts.
She succeeded Zuzana Čaputová, the country’s first female head of state and strong defender of the neighbor Ukraine in his fight against the Russian invasion. He did not seek a second term in this largely ceremonial position.
Fico did not attend the ceremony because he is still recovering from a shot in the abdomen that he received on May 15 in the town of Handlova, while greeting his supporters. The aggressor was arrested.
Fico’s leftist Smer (Direction) party won parliamentary elections on September 30 on a pro-Russian, anti-American platform.
Pellegrini, a supporter of the state playing an important role, headed the left-wing Hlas (Voice) party, which he came third in the vote and joined a government coalition with Fico and the ultranationalist Slovak National Party.
Critics fear that Fico’s Slovakia will abandon its pro-Western course and follow the lead of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s populist Hungary.
Concentrations in Slovakia
Thousands of people have recently taken to the streets of Slovakia to demonstrate against Fico’s pro-Russian and other policies, including plans to amend the penal code and take control of public media.
Pellegrini, president of Parliament after the elections, has never questioned Fico’s policies.
It was him Fico’s former deputy in Smer when he became prime minister in 2018, after Fico was forced to resign following large anti-government street protests over the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée.
Pellegrini had temporarily separated from Fico after the Smer, dotted with scandalslost the previous elections in 2020, but their reunion allowed the creation of the Fico Government.
The president of this nation of 5.4 million inhabitants chooses the prime minister after parliamentary electionsswears in the new government and appoints the judges of the Constitutional Court.
Also can veto laws, although Parliament can override the veto with a simple majority, and challenge them before the Constitutional Court. The Head of State also has the right to pardon the convicted.
The Government, led by Prime Ministerholds the majority of executive powers.
