Slovak president backs Babiš in upcoming general elections

Political relations between the Czech Republic and Slovakia would improve if Andrej Babiš became the next Czech prime minister, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini said ahead of next weekend’s general elections.

In a radio debate on Slovak public broadcaster STVR, Pellegrini criticized Czech Deputy Prime Minister Vít Rakušan for recently attending an anti-government protest in Bratislava. He also claimed Slovakia is being exploited in the Czech election campaign.

Intergovernmental consultations between Prague and Bratislava were suspended in March 2024, when the Czech government cited differences in key foreign policy views. Since then relations between the two governments have remained cool. Babiš said earlier that he would renew the intergovernmental consultations if he got to form the next government.