Peter Pellegrini

Slovakia will on Saturday hold the first round of a presidential election that is a battle between the Central European country's Russia-leaning ruling camp and a pro-Ukraine opposition-backed candidate.

Parliament speaker Peter Pellegrini and liberal ex-foreign minister Ivan Korcok are the clear frontrunners among nine contenders.

Slovak police have accused the intelligence chief and other senior security officials of creating a criminal group and conspiring to abuse power in a case just weeks before early elections, Reuters reported.

The ruthless double murder of two innocent people on February 21, 2018, triggered the largest wave of anti-government protests in Slovakia's modern history.

"No other government in Slovak history has ever started in such a complicated situation," President Zuzana Caputova said in a speech on March 19, expressing confidence that the cabinet would lead the country through the coronavirus crisis..

Although the number of cases is small compared with other countries, the outgoing government of Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini, who has doubled as health minister for the past few months, has introduced widespread prevention measures.

BRATISLAVA (REUTERS) - Slovak President Andrej Kiska appointed Peter Pellegrini as prime minister on Thursday to end a political crisis touched off by the murder of an investigative journalist that led to mass protests and the resignation of veteran leader Robert Fico.