New Slovak President to Visit Neighbouring Countries Including Ukraine, Starting with Czech Republic

Slovakia's newly elected President Peter Pellegrini, who took office on Saturday, announced plans to visit neighbouring countries, including Ukraine. 

He said this on Sunday on RTVS, the Slovak news agency TASR reports.

"I plan to visit all neighbouring countries, including Ukraine," Slovak President Pellegrini said. He did not speak about the timeframe of a possible trip to Ukraine.

He also specified that the Czech Republic would be the first of the neighbouring countries to visit. 

Pellegrini is a close ally of the current Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who is considered a pro-Russian politician in Slovakia and whose government is regularly subject to mass protests in the country.

As a reminder, Pellegrini defeated pro-Western and pro-Ukrainian former Foreign Minister Ivan Korchok in the second round of the Slovak presidential election with 53.12% of the vote.

As a result, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and his allies control the Slovak parliament, government and presidential office after Pellegrini's victory. That is, one political force has all branches of government under its control.