2024-04-08 22:35:13
Just a few tens of hours after the end of the Slovak presidential elections, the mood in the country is tense. At a joint press conference with Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenický, Prime Minister Robert Fico (both Smér-SD) sharply criticized the journalist’s question. She wanted to know where the elected president of the country, Peter Pellegrini, would live during his mandate. “What the hell are you talking about?” Fico wondered.
Video: SMER – Social Democracy
In a lucrative part of Bratislava, near the Slavín monument, there is a villa originally intended as the residence of the President of the Slovak Republic. Until now, the only head of state, Rudolf Schuster, who headed the country two decades ago, lived in it. The building has been in a dilapidated state for years. When the editor of Slovak commercial television JOJ asked the prime minister where the future president of the country will live and whether his office plans to renovate the building, he responded very sharply. “This is bothering you, this is your problem?” he asked.
“Are we going to deal with what the president is not entitled to? Are we going to take away his salary? Are we going to take away his housing, everything?” he asked rhetorical question after question in a room full of editors saying they should let the president represent the country properly. “He is the head of the state. I also had to invite my colleagues and friends to my privacy several times. I also had to arrange my living space in such a way that I could fulfill a representative role. What kind of nonsense are you talking about?” he was surprised.
In his reprimanding monologue at the press conference, Robert Fico also mentioned the article he read in Denník N. In the text, which was published after the election, experts advised how to deal with frustration. In front of the journalists, the Prime Minister freely quoted the psychologist Matúš Bakyta from the text, who, according to him, should have stated in an interview with the editors that after finding out the results of the elections, he had to take sedatives and in the morning, together with his wife and dog, wept over the misfortune that befell Slovakia. “Really, we Slovaks don’t care anymore?” he commented immediately. “Pellegrini is elected, you’re all out of it, you’re on medication.”
At the same time, Fico distorted Bakyta’s text. “When I woke up on Sunday night and read the election results, I was glad I had anti-anxiety medication at home. It helped me deal with that first huge wave of disappointment, helped me sleep for a few more hours and hope in the back of my mind that it was just a bad dream. In the morning I was grateful to be able to hug my wife and dog, even though we were both devastated by the news,” the psychologist originally said in the survey.
Peter Pellegrini, the former head of the Slovak parliament and the ruling Hlas party, who is an ally of the prime minister, defeated diplomat Ivan Korčok in the second round of the presidential election at the weekend. He congratulated the winner, but criticized his offensive and opaque campaign. Pellegrini won 53 percent of the vote, Korčok 47. Participation reached 61 percent.
The case of “cocaine” strongly affected Pellegrini. The bystander did not notice the suspicious reaction (article with video here)
An unknown object fell out of Pellegrini’s pocket during the press conference | Video: Aktuálně.cz