Slovak Prime Minister Fico takes Russia's side accusing NATO of supporting Ukraine conflict

Robert Fico became the first NATO leader to have given an interview to Russian media after the start of the special military operation and he made some very bold statements in it.

Photo: flickr.com by EU2016 SK, PDM

The West fails to bring Russia to its knees

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico gave an interview to Russian journalist Olga Skabeeva on the state-run Rossiya-1 TV channel.

He started his interview with a Slovak proverb that says that "no one on their knees can be considered defeated — perhaps they are just tying their shoelaces."

Fico accused European powers France and Germany of encouraging the continuation of the conflict by supporting Ukraine, which, in fact, no longer interests them three years into the crisis.

"The European Union is telling the Ukrainians: 'Here is your weapons, here is your money, fight, just don't bother us with this, we simply don't want to have anything to do with this war anymore,'" Fico said.

He accused NATO of preventing Ukraine from reaching an agreement with Russia.

"Today it is absolutely clear that in April 2022 (in Istanbul) there were real agreements on the table that could have immediately ended the war. But someone came up and said: 'No, no, no, no, you cannot sign this,'" Fico said.

The prime minister also said that the "victory plan" that Volodymyr Zelensky is promoting in the West today can not be considered a way to end the war, as it leads to escalation. The same is true for Ukraine's admission to NATO.

"I do not believe that NATO membership will guarantee Ukraine's security," he said.

Fico believes that Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev deserves a monument in Slovakia for liberating the country. He also said that he would be honoured to receive an invitation to come to Moscow to participate in the celebration of the 80th anniversary of victory in World War II.

"I feel that this is my personal duty," Fico said.

Speaking about the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Fico said that the version about "drunk Ukrainian officers" exploding the Nord Streams was absurd. In order to prevent a new "iron curtain" from appearing between the EU and Russia, he is ready to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin without hesitation.

Why Fico has the voice

Fico has become bolder and publicly voiced the thoughts that many people in Europe share too. The Slovak Prime Minister did not say anything that could make his voters worry. Fico ran his 2023 election campaign against the backdrop of demands to end Slovakia's financial and military support for Ukraine.

The number of EU leaders sharing Fico's views is going to increase. Robert Fico and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban will have the new leader of the Czech Republic, Andrej Babiš (of Slovak origin) joining them next year.

Fico profits from his position very well too: by selling weapons to Ukraine without moralizing the issue on the one hand, and on the other hand by receiving Russian oil and gas to process and re-export Russian fuel and fertilizers at favourable prices to Europe.

Details

On 15 May 2024 Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico was shot and critically injured in the central Slovak town of Handlová, in front of its House of Culture after a government meeting. He was hospitalised and stabilised after emergency surgery. The suspect, 71-year-old Juraj Cintula, was detained by police at the scene. During interrogation, he stated that he acted primarily because of the Fico government's opposition to military assistance to Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Slovakia  officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's mostly mountainous territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq mi), hosting a population exceeding 5.4 million. The capital and largest city is Bratislava, while the second largest city is Košice.