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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
The Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, said on January 20 that he intends to inform his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal, that the country will block Kiev’s accession to NATO to prevent the start of World War Three. He also slammed Ukraine for not being an “independent and sovereign country” as it is “under the total influence and control of the United States.”
“Regarding their entry into the European Union, we respect them, but they must meet the conditions (…), I will say that I am against Ukraine’s accession to NATO, that I will use the right of veto and block it because that will be the basis for a Third World War,” said Fico to the RTVS channel.
The Slovak Prime Minister said that the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart will take place on January 24 in the city of Uzhhorod, on the border with Slovakia, and the meeting promises to be “interesting.”
“I know what I’m going with [to the meeting with Shmyhal]; I’m going with humanitarian aid. We’ll confirm that they won’t receive weapons from the Slovak Army or state warehouses. I’ll say that there are things where our points of view are completely different,” said Fico.
The prime minister also added that Shmyhal does not want to give a press conference after the meeting.
Days earlier, the Slovak government decided only to provide humanitarian assistance to Kiev and stop sending weapons.
The cabinet of ministers, led by Fico, did not approve the previous government’s proposal, which envisaged sending a Slovak military aid package worth €40.3 million to Ukraine. This military aid package would be Slovakia’s fourteenth since the start of the conflict in Ukraine. The central European country has already sent weapons, ammunition, and equipment worth €671 million to Kiev.
But as Fico said, the meeting will undoubtedly be “interesting,” especially since, in the same interview, he slammed the Kiev regime for being under the US’ “total influence and control.”
“Ukraine is not an independent and sovereign country,” Fico told RTVS. “Ukraine is under the total influence and control of the United States.”
Fico also accused Ukraine of being “one of the most corrupt nations in the world,” adding: “God only knows how much of the aid that is sent to you disappears somewhere.”
He argued there was no military solution to the current conflict and that Ukraine would have to give up some of its territory.
“There has to be some kind of compromise, which will be very painful for both sides,” he added. “And what are they waiting for? That the Russians will leave…? It’s unrealistic.”
Fico ended military support for Kiev because the previous government’s policies led to a shortage of anti-aircraft defence systems and fighter jets.
Slovakia’s Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák revealed to the Standard media that the West, for its part, has yet to fulfil its promises of reward.
“The previous government left us without air defence systems, without military aviation, we do not even have the €700 million promised in exchange for the MiG fighter planes, which were also delivered to Ukraine by the previous government,” he said.
After the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict, Kiev lost several of its Soviet-made air defence systems and had to turn to its Western allies for help. As a result, in 2022, Slovakia provided Ukraine with its only S-300 air defence system for free.
As for aviation, Ukraine faced the same problem as in the case of air defence systems. Russian forces have shot down a considerable number of its aircraft, and the West has scrambled to alleviate the losses. In this sense, the Slovak government was among the first to deliver its fighter jets to Kiev, specifically 13 MiG-29 fighter aircraft.
Likewise, Western countries promised Slovakia a Patriot air defence system in exchange for the S-300s and €700 million in compensation for the MiG fighter jets. However, none of these promises have been fulfilled so far.
According to Kaliňák, Slovakia is currently holding talks with an unnamed Israeli company and studying the purchase of a new air defence system worth €1 billion. The new government also had German military equipment in its sights. However, as the Slovak Defence Minister stressed, the reconstruction of air defence will take years.
In 2023, Slovakia held parliamentary elections, and the newly formed government seriously reconsidered the country’s stance in the Ukrainian crisis in favour of stopping military supplies to Kiev. Fico represents a swing that is slowly emerging in the European bloc, a backlash against reckless support for Ukraine, as well as the highlighting of the immense corruption that exists in the country.
“the central european country has already sent weapons, ammunition, and equipment worth €671 million to kiev.”
just imagine the positive results the equivalent of these expenditures could have brought to the people of slovakia.
about 120 euros each
could of have been invested in the community, such as better hospitals and better patient care, schools, roads, bridges, better train system and mass transit, renewable energy, the list is endless! they could have done anything but end it to ukraine!
there are roughly 40 million ukrainians. half of them are outwith ukraine. if they all contributed 120 euros per month to fund the war that would be 4.8 billion euros per month. but they dont. instead ukraine wants others to pay for her wars.
the us is occupied by the jewish supremacists. they’re a colony of israel.
i have consulted geopolitical senility expert jens holm who live in corrupt amerikunt colony–eunuch jens knows everything
the czech republic has placed a $6.5 billion (more than the entire annual gdp of many poor countries) order for f35’s. so the us persuades the europeans to give away their weapons to their puppet state then they buy new ones from the us for vast sums, which will need ongoing maintenance too.
som rad,ze mame takeho normalneho premiera!
finally an independent voice…
may he have loyal bodyguards.