A European country is preparing to go into imminent elections that will have major repercussions on the war in Ukraine, if the pro-Russian candidate wins.
The talk here is about Slovakia, a NATO member state that shares borders with Ukraine.
Opposition leader Robert Fico is currently leading in opinion polls, who shows sympathy for the Kremlin, something the West is watching with concern.
Voters in Slovakia are scheduled to go to the polls on September 30 to choose their representatives in parliament.
The massive support will stop
Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war in February 2022, Slovakia has been one of the strongest allies supporting Kiev.
Slovakia was one of the first Western countries to send air defense systems to Ukraine, and it also welcomed tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees who fled when the fighting broke out.
But all this may change if Fico comes to power, according to a report by the American CNN network.
Slovakia: A decision to stop the flights of all Russian MiG-29 aircraft
Expressed sympathy
The report says that Fico did not hide his sympathy for the Kremlin, and blamed “Ukrainian Nazis and fascists” who provoked Russian President Vladimir Putin and pushed him toward waging war.
Fico called on his country’s government to stop supporting Ukraine, and pledged, if he came to power, not to send any additional batch of ammunition.
He also opposes Ukraine joining NATO.
Russia and NATO… never-ending hostility
Fico’s point of view
Grigory Mesnikov, a political analyst and head of the Institute of Public Affairs, a Slovak think tank, says Fico, like many Russia sympathizers, offers his support to Moscow as a peace initiative.
He adds: “He and his allies argue that weapons should not be sent to Ukraine, because that will prolong the war, and they say that there will be peace if we stop sending weapons to Ukraine.”
Fico held the position of Prime Minister in his country for more than a decade in two terms, the first between 2006-2010, and the second between 2012-2018.
NATO deploys the Patriot system in Slovakia
His political record
He stepped down in 2018, after massive protests following the killing of an investigative journalist and his fiancée, who was documenting corruption in his country’s corrupt elite.
But the alternative represented by center-right politicians failed and ended in disappointment, and political life in the country witnessed a state of instability.
The Slovaks will choose 5 prime ministers within 4 years.
#country #NATO. #leader #loyal #Russia
2023-09-28 08:59:41
