Fico condemns Russian aggression in Ukraine and rejects NATO membership – Slovakia-Ukraine relations update

“Membership of Ukraine in NATO is only good for the third world war. We are a neighboring country, and independent Ukraine, not Ukraine in NATO, is a testament to us,” Fico said on the radio program Saturday dialogues. The head of the Slovak government emphasized again that he wants to conduct foreign policy on all four sides of the world. “We are interested in good relations with Ukraine, but we have a different opinion on war,” added Fico.

The Slovak Prime Minister confirmed that at Thursday’s meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Šmyhal in Michalovce, eastern Slovakia, he made it clear that he did not believe in a military solution to the conflict in Ukraine. “I don’t believe in a military solution and the war situation is unsustainable for Ukraine. However, I repeat that the use of Russian military force was a violation of international law,” Fico said.

In the internal political part of the interview, Fico said that the best candidate for the post of speaker of the parliament would be the leader of the ruling Slovak National Party, Andrej Danko, who has already held this position in the past. However, he admitted that the governing coalition does not yet have an agreement on this issue. The post became vacant after the election of the chairman of the government party Hlas-social democracy Petr Pellegrini as president of the republic.

However, the Hlas party immediately rejected the nomination of Danek for the post of speaker of the parliament and reminded that according to the coalition agreement this position belongs to her. “This contract is based on the conditions in the National Council after the parliamentary elections, while these conditions did not change in any way after the presidential elections, and the election of the president was not part of the coalition contract,” responded Hlas party spokesperson Karolína Ducká.