President: Let's Show Politicians that Confrontational Style Has No Place Here

Bratislava, 14 June (TASR) - If politicians themselves do not want to give up their confrontational style of doing politics, society should convince them that there is no demand for such behaviour, President Peter Pellegrini told TASR TV in an interview with publicist Juraj Hrabko. According to the head of state, if the politicians won't calm the country down, although they should naturally try to do so, the people themselves should try to overcome the polarisation. "Let's do it together, regardless of whether every Sunday an opposition MP argues with a coalition MP or they make odd videos where they insult each other," he said. Pellegrini opined that big political players may even be comfortable with today's global trend to divide society into two irreconcilable camps, where each leader communicates only with their own camp. "These trends also prevail in the countries to the west of us," said Pellegrini. Personally, he expected that in Slovakia, after the unprecedented attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) in 2024, the situation would begin to change towards less aggression and more cultivated manners in political debate. "I had an idea that after that tragic act we would realise that we had already gone too far in confrontation. But, unfortunately, today I have to say that tensions in society persist," noted the president. The head of state went on to say that he has made calm and efforts to reduce the polarisation in society a priority since the beginning of his tenure. "In terms of my first speech, I try to act like that every day, but, paradoxically, we're witnessing a much worsened situation," he admitted. Pellegrini assumed the office of president on 15 June 2024. Prior to his election, he served as parliamentary chair and leader of the Voice-SD coalition party. He succeeded Zuzana Caputova as head of state. am