The former Slovak prime minister who could be set to return to power later this year said he would end the nation’s arms deliveries to Ukraine and put a brake on some plans to introduce more sanctions on Russia.
(Bloomberg) — The former Slovak prime minister who could be set to return to power later this year said he would end the nation’s arms deliveries to Ukraine and put a brake on some plans to introduce more sanctions on Russia.
Robert Fico, whose party leads the polls in Slovakia before an election expected in September, vowed also to force weapons shipments from elsewhere to be rerouted.
He would veto “pointless” sanctions on Russia that harm European Union member states, he said in an interview.
Such policies would mark a major shift in Slovakia’s support toward its eastern neighbor and add a new challenge to Western allies already facing opposition from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an old ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who blames sanctions for wrecking his country’s economy.
The current administration in Bratislava has supplied Ukraine with ammunition, Soviet-era fighter jets, infantry vehicles and the S-300 missile system.
Slovakia has also backed all sanctions against Russia, even as only half of its citizens see the Kremlin as the aggressor in the war next door.
“I don’t want to supply deadly weapons to Ukraine just for the sake of a good image among western countries,” Fico, 58, said at his party’s headquarters in Bratislava on Tuesday.
“We have the right to have our own opinion.”
Fico’s potential comeback has been helped by the national division over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He has criticized the government and its pro-US “nodding” and also its handling of a cost-of-living crisis.
His Smer party is leading all polls in Slovakia — a member of the euro zone as well as the EU and NATO — albeit with about 20% of the vote.
That’s still double the level from the bottom after he stepped down amid the biggest protests since the end of communism following the murder of an investigative reporter and his fiancée.
This week, Fico met with ambassadors of the US, UK and EU to lay out his foreign policy goals.
He told them that if he is back in office, Slovakia would not support Ukraine’s bid for membership in NATO because that “biggest nonsense” would make the conflict global, he said.
“Taking Ukraine into NATO would mean the beginning of World War III and that’s why we have a serious problem with it,” Fico said.
Peace talks should take place now before more lives are lost and also as Ukraine could lock in gains, he said. “Tomorrow’s peace talks could result in Ukraine getting much more than in six months.”
Should he prevail in the election, it’s unclear whether Fico will be able to form a coalition.
His previous governments have come from across the spectrum, including a right-wing fringe party. Once he governed alone after winning 44% of votes in 2012, though a repeat of that result seems unlikely this time.
Fico also said his aim is to restore Slovakia’s sovereignty and the voice of the country in the EU, though staying in the bloc is a priority.
But Western allies are already growing wary of Fico’s return.
Gautam Rana, the US ambassador to Slovakia, urged Fico to “not align” with Putin and his plans to keep the land taken from Ukraine.
“Such proposals come directly from Putin’s mouth and there is nothing neutral about them,” Rana said in a statement after the meeting.
“Aligning with Putin is appeasement, no different than the appeasement offered to Hitler. It did not work with Hitler then, and it will not work with Putin today.”
Fico wasn’t troubled by the rebuke, saying it was clear from the meeting with the envoys this week that Western powers want to continue supporting Ukraine in the war and weapons deliveries, while he is insisting on peace.
“You cannot scold a nation for having a certain opinion,” he said, dismissing the idea that he could be isolated within the EU along with Orban.
“I’m not for Putin, I am for peace,” he said. “I hope the West has enough sense to not go into an open war with the Russian Federation.”
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