Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico reassures EU allies over Ukraine stance

Following his hostile rhetoric towards Ukraine this week, Prime Minister Robert Fico showed his tamer side abroad as he reassured German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of his support for the country ahead of a meeting on Wednesday (24 January). 

Fico made headlines this week when he first questioned Ukraine’s sovereignty when speaking to Slovak media and suggested later that there was no war in Kyiv.

This stirred fears that the Slovak Prime Minister was set on following the example of his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orbán, who often leverages his veto power to block important decisions on EU support for Ukraine.

However, Fico’s actions remain in line with the pro-Ukrainian EU majority so far as he reassured Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Wednesday in Uzhhorod, Ukraine, that Slovakia would not block EU financial aid for the country and it supported its EU accession.

Ahead of a meeting with the Slovak prime minister later on Wednesday, the German chancellor also highlighted Fico’s track record of support for Ukraine, appearing unconcerned with the verbal signals that his counterpart was sending at home.

“I want to emphasise that the Slovak Prime Minister has actively supported the agreement between at least 26 EU members (…) to support Ukraine with €50 billion until 2027,” Scholz told reporters in Berlin, referencing ongoing negotiations to top up EU aid for Ukraine.

Fico, who hoped to discuss closer economic collaboration with Germany at the meeting, used the occasion to reaffirm his continued support for Ukraine.

“We want to help Ukraine, and therefore, we are naturally in favour of Ukraine joining the European Union,” he said in Berlin while stating that Ukraine would still need to meet all the necessary criteria for its accession.

Above all, there remain powerful domestic reasons for Fico to uphold a facade of scepticism towards Ukraine in Slovakia.

His party won the recent national elections on a platform criticising the previous government’s military aid for Ukraine, and the matter is a main point of distinction from the liberal, pro-Western opposition.

Thus far, Hungary remains the only country blocking additional funding for Ukraine.

However, Fico expressed confidence that all EU countries would agree on the upcoming EU budget and Ukraine aid at an extraordinary summit on 1 February.

“Ukraine’s only answer is ‘War’”

When asked about his earlier provocative remarks, the Slovak prime minister attempted to reconcile the tension with his more collaborative attitude, claiming that there were certain “topics where we have an entirely different position from Ukraine”.

“When I asked the Ukrainians about their plans today, their only answer was ‘War’,” Fico said, adding that his government did not believe the conflict could be resolved by military means.

The appropriate amount of military aid is also a sticking point among European partners, as Slovakia is not the only country with a shaky stance.

Scholz reiterated on Wednesday that Germany was “hoping for more contributions” in terms of military support from European allies.

Following similar remarks by the chancellor in early January, both France and the United Kingdom had promised additional military aid, which the chancellor saw as “reinforcement” of his course, a government spokesperson said last week.

However, the amount earmarked by Germany “makes up more than half of what everyone else has planned [on contributing] so far”, Scholz claimed Wednesday.

He added that the topic would also be discussed at the upcoming summit, pointing out that Germany was closing in on signing a bilateral security agreement with Ukraine following a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday.

“I assume that we’ll soon be finalising this, too,” he said.

[Edited by Alice Taylor]

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