The 2004 presidential elections were held in Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

 on 3 April (first round) and 17 April (second round) 2004. In the second round, Ivan Gašparovič

Ivan Gašparovic

Ivan Gašparovič is a Slovak politician and law professor who has been the President of Slovakia since 15 June 2004. He is also the first Slovak president to be re-elected.-Biography:...

 was elected President of Slovakia

President of Slovakia

The President of Slovakia is the head of state of Slovakia. The President is directly elected by the people for five years, and can be elected for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...

.

In the first round former Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar

Vladimír Meciar

Vladimír Mečiar is a Slovak politician who was Prime Minister of Slovakia from 1990 to 1991, from 1992 to 1994, and from 1994 to 1998. He is the leader of the People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia...

 led a field of eleven candidates, including his former ally Gašparovič and incumbent President Rudolf Schuster

Rudolf Schuster

Rudolf Schuster was the second President of Slovakia . He was elected on 29 May 1999 and inaugurated on 15 June. Schuster was defeated in the presidential elections of April 2004, in which he ran as an independent...

, who polled poorly. The candidate backed by the current government, Eduard Kukan

Eduard Kukan

Eduard Kukan served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia from 1998 to 2006. He was a candidate in the presidential election held on 3 April 2004, and although pre-election polls had suggested he would come in first, he actually came in third behind former prime minister Vladimír Mečiar and...

, came third, meaning that the second round on 17 April was contested by Mečiar and Gašparovič. In the second round, Gašparovič easily defeated Mečiar.

External links

• A page listing the candidates
• Tables of official results (in Slovak and English)