If you look at Europe, there has been a steady rise of democratic leaders who are friendly to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. In Hungary, we have Viktor Orban, who is quite infamous in Europe and Washington DC for his stance on the Russia-Ukraine war. In Austria, a staunch Putin ally and anti-Ukraine leader, Herbert Kickl, just won the elections. And now Slovakia PM Robert Fico has gone all out in embracing the Russian leader and calling out the West.
First of all, on October 6th, Fico vowed to block Ukraine from joining the NATO alliance, saying he won’t let it happen as long as he is head of the country’s government.
Fico said, “As long as I am head of the Slovak government, I will direct the MPs that are under my control as chairman of the [ruling Smer] party never to agree to Ukraine’s joining NATO.”
Fico’s remarks came just three days after the new NATO secretary-general, Mark Rutte, said Ukraine’s NATO membership was a top agenda. On Oct 3, Rutte said, “Ukraine is closer to NATO than ever before, and will continue on this path until you become a member of our alliance.”
You see, Fico has a strong message for the NATO chief: I don’t care about your so-called top agenda.
On Sunday, he also said the West was oiling the war machinery in Ukraine just to weaken Russia. Fico expressed concern over the EU’s increasing involvement in the ongoing hostilities between Moscow and Kyiv.
Fico said, “There is a military conflict in a neighboring country where Slavs are killing each other, and Europe is significantly supporting this killing, which I just don’t understand.”
He added, “Everyone thinks that through Ukraine we will bring the Russians to their knees, but this Russophobia does not work.”
Earlier on Thursday, he declared he will do everything possible to renew economic ties with Russia once the war in Ukraine ends. In his words, when a war ends, actual peace should follow. Fico has vowed to visit Kyiv to discuss the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine into Slovakia so that the Slovak economy does not go the way of Germany’s – a slow, then increasingly rapid collapse by energy strangulation at the hands of Washington.
Like all other EU countries, Slovakia is struggling with economic problems. Its government seeks to tackle them by deficit reduction; the opposition does its part and disagrees. So far, nothing unusual. But there is something that is very unusual in the Slovak case – Its leader is in favour of building ties with Russia and genuinely interested in ending the war.
Fico is a leader who understands and respects history. In his Oct 6 address, he recalled arrival of troops from the former Soviet Union at rugged Dukla Pass near Slovakia’s border with Poland. He said Russian sacrifices had helped liberate Slovakia from Nazi rule. He stressed, “Freedom came from the East and absolutely nothing can change this truth.”
That’s why, Fico has refrained from joining the West’s pro-Ukraine and anti-Russia bandwagon. After winning the parliamentary election last year, Fico halted deliveries of weapons to Ukraine and called for a diplomatic resolution of the conflict.
Previously, TFI Global reported how Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also begging for a phone call with Putin. A lot of European hardliners, it seems, are now waking up to the reality.