From 1998 to 2003, he was the chief justice of the Supreme Court and, in addition, president of the Judicial Council of Slovakia created in 2001.

He ran on a platform of "traditional Slovak culture based on Christianity and family, formed by a man–father and woman–mother" and rejecting "gender ideology".

[3] During the campaign he accused Muslim migrants of "killing and raping European women in Germany and France" and claimed his opponents wanted to destroy Slovak culture.

Harabin stated that if he become the Slovak president, his first international journey would be to Russia, instead of the traditional visit to neighbour the Czech Republic, because of their support for "fascist" Ukraine in the 2022 Russian invasion.

On 16 May 2022, Harabin was arrested by the Slovak police in connection to "approval of Russia's attack on Ukraine".