Slovakia’s left-wing, anti-globalist prime minister, whose SMER party sailed to victory in September after campaigning on a platform against further involvement in the war in Ukraine, has essentially broken ranks with fellow EU and NATO allies in suggesting that Slovak-Russian relations will be regularized following the conflict’s conclusion.
Four-time Prime Minister Robert Fico’s statement, which came alongside sharp criticism of the American and EU strategy toward Ukraine, followed meetings with the U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia, Gautam Rana, and the Russian Ambassador to Slovakia, Igor Bratčikov on Thursday, November 30th, the Slovakian newspaper Hospodárske Noviny reports.
Slovakia must “prepare for the period after the end of the war in Ukraine and the normalization of Slovak-Russian relations,” Fico said, in a statement that is sure to agitate a great many of his partners in NATO and the European Union.
“The Slovak Republic is a member state of the EU and NATO, which naturally affects our foreign policy priorities. On the other hand, it cannot limit us in sovereign positions, which are not always in line with the policy of one single correct opinion promoted by the European Union,” Fico wrote in a post on social media.
During the meetings, the Slovak head of state laid out the national priorities of his left-sovereignist government and his perspective on the war in Ukraine, which closely resembles that of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Echoing remarks made time and time again by Orbán, the latest of which came in Switzerland days ago, Fico said that he, too, views the strategy pursued by the EU and U.S. in Ukraine as a clear failure.
The Slovak prime minister also reiterated that the primary focus of foreign policy he intends to pursue and implement is one that “protects and promotes Slovak national-state interests,” which he said includes the “support of peace initiatives and not war in Ukraine.”
His comments come days after a state visit to the Czech Republic—a staunch military backer of Ukraine—on November 24th, where he referred to the Russo-Ukrainian war as a “frozen conflict” that cannot be solved militarily.
Known for his rhetoric that, like Orbán’s, often goes against the mainstream consensus, Fico, one day after assuming the office of prime minister, announced that Slovakia would “no longer supply weapons to Ukraine” and would only send humanitarian aid to Kyiv.
“I will support zero military aid to Ukraine … An immediate halt to military operations is the best solution we have for Ukraine,” he said.
Earlier this month, however, Fico said that his government would not prevent weapons exports to Ukraine by private defense companies.
“We have communicated very clearly and I want to communicate—we are talking about weapons, about ammunition from Slovak army storage, about state material. When some company wants to make weapons and send them somewhere, nobody is going to obstruct that,” Fico said after his first meeting with Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kalinak.
