SLOVAKIA: Voters in Slovakia dashed the comeback hopes of their autocratic former prime minister, Mr Vladimir Meciar, in weekend presidential elections, voting instead for his long-time ally turned rival, Mr Ivan Gasparovic.
Mr Gasparovic, a 63-year old laywer and university professor, promised not to block the government's reform programme, as Mr Meciar had threatened, and said he wanted Slovakia to become a dependable European partner after EU accession in two weeks.
"Slovakia will be an equal and sovereign state in the EU and my first goal for Slovakia is that our people do not have to go abroad for work," Mr Gasparovic told The Irish Times shortly after his victory.
He said Slovakia would continue to work with the other "Visegrad" countries, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, in the EU and would push for the EU accession of the Balkan countries.
Supporters in his Bratislava headquarters cheered and raised glasses of home-made wine when the president-elect appeared shortly after 1 a.m. yesterday morning.
Final figures showed Mr Gasparovic captured around 60 per cent of the vote, though the outcome was far from certain beforehand after the shock first round result when Mr Meciar, a former amateur boxer, topped the poll. The result turned opinion polls on their head and resulted in the elimination of Mr Eduard Kukan, the foreign minister and favourite for the presidency.
Mr Meciar had claimed he was a different man to the controversial prime minister who presided over a corrupt privatisation process and alienated Slovakia from western institutions with regular nationalistic outbursts and disregard for democratic institutions.
But few voters believed him and the shock of his first round success motivated them to get out and vote.
"I don't particularly want Mr Gasparovic to be president, he's the lesser of two evils, but he's normal at least," said Ms Petra Meierova after voting in central Bratislava. "I've had enough of Mr Meciar: he's a liar, undemocratic and not right in his head."