Slovakia's Pellegrini wins presidential election -- preliminary results

BRATISLAVA -- Slovakia's incumbent speaker of the National Council Peter Pellegrini won the country's second round of the presidential election held on Saturday, according to preliminary results published by Slovakia's Statistical Office.

Results from 99.47 percent of votes showed that Pellegrini had 53.38 percent, and former foreign minister Ivan Korcok, 46.61 percent.

Pellegrini, 48, served as Slovakia's prime minister from 2018 to 2020. Korcok served as the country's foreign minister from 2020 to 2022.

In the first round on March 23, which included nine candidates, Korcok received 42.51 percent of the vote, followed by Pellegrini's 37.02 percent.

The president of Slovakia is chosen in a direct election. Incumbent President Zuzana Caputova, whose 5-year term expires on June 15 this year, did not seek re-election.