The first EU country to openly turn its back on Ukraine

Slovakia has become the first European and NATO country whose government will take an openly anti-Ukrainian position. And therefore, to some extent, a pro-Russian position as well. This became finally clear following the results of the formation of the government coalition. Which people will become the leaders of Slovakia and what did they say about co-operation with Russia?

A week or so after the parliamentary elections in Slovakia, the contours of the new Slovak government began to emerge. Two social-democratic parties, Kurs – Social Democracy (Smer-SD) and Voice – Social Democracy (Hlas-SD), as well as the right-wing Slovak National Party (SNS), have agreed to form a government coalition. Smer-SD will be able to appoint a prime minister and six ministers (with a high probability that the government will be headed by party leader Robert Fico), Hlas-SD – the speaker of parliament (he is likely to be a former associate of Fiсo – Peter Pellegrini) and seven ministers, SNS – three ministers.

Perhaps in no other European country would the Social Democrats enter into a coalition with the right-wing. However, Robert Fiсo has a special view of social democratic doctrine – his left-wing convictions in the economy are combined with a commitment to conservative values in the social sphere.

The leader of the Smer-SD is not afraid to raise traditional right-wing issues, such as the fight against illegal immigration from foreign countries, the integration of the Roma minority into Slovak society, and the restriction of LGBT issues in the public space. For this reason, the alliance between the Slovak Social Democrats and the nationalists looks organic. At the briefing after the signing of the coalition memorandum, it was stated that one of the main priorities of the new cabinet will be the fight against illegal immigration.

Fitzo’s European colleagues in the socialist camp have not considered him their own for a long time. In 2006, the Party of European Socialists (PES), represented in the European Parliament, suspended Smer-SD’s membership in its ranks for two years, the reason being Fitzo’s coalition with the SNS. After winning the elections held at the end of September, the Eurosocialists again threatened Smer-SD with expulsion, this time because of the Slovak Social Democrats’ refusal to support Ukraine.

In response, Fiсo said blackmail was unacceptable, making it clear that he had no intention of compromising his principles.

“This is really beautiful and democratic. Either we say what the US wants or they will kick us out”. The PES chairman has rigorously adhered to the philosophy that whoever is in favour of peace is a warmonger and whoever is in favour of war and killing is a peace activist….

Blackmailing an independent politician is wrong. If exclusion from the Party of European Socialists will be the price for realising a truly leftist agenda in Slovakia and expressing sovereign opinions, we are ready to pay such a price,” the Smer-SD leader said.

During his election campaign, Fiсo promised not to supply Ukraine with “a single round of ammunition” anymore and to veto Kiev’s accession to NATO.

He also came out in favour of an embargo on Ukrainian agricultural products to Slovakia, calling Kiev’s lawsuit over grain to the World Trade Organisation “the height of insolence and yet another confirmation of what an unserious partner Ukraine really is”.

The assumption that Robert Fiсo would change or soften his position on Ukraine upon returning to the prime minister’s chair had some basis in fact. While serving as prime minister from 2012 to 2018, he did make steps towards Kiev. For example, in September 2014, Fitzo participated in the opening of reverse gas supplies from Slovakia to Ukraine.

But, firstly, at that time the heat of the Russian-Ukrainian confrontation was not as acute as it is now, and third countries had the opportunity to sit on two chairs. And secondly, the Smer-SD party won the parliamentary elections largely thanks to its anti-Ukrainian slogans.

In such a situation, fawning over Kyiv would mean spitting in the face of one’s own voters. Such an experienced politician as Fitzo cannot fail to realise this, so Kiev can definitely forget about Bratislava as its ally for the near future.

The biographies of Fiсo’s colleagues in the government coalition make them perhaps even bigger friends of Moscow than the future prime minister himself. At least the Western press certainly has reason to call them “pro-Russian.”

The current leader of Hlas-SD, Peter Pellegrini, met with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow in 2019 as head of the Slovak government and uttered some very eloquent words at the time:

“The Russian Federation is one of the most important economic, trade partners for Slovakia, and we see great potential in our economic and trade relations”.

The Slovak National Party is led by Andrej Danko, in 2019 he was chairman of the National Council (Slovak parliament) and came to Moscow too – to participate in the Victory Parade on 9 May. At a meeting with Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Danko said, “I will always fight for European nations to have contacts with the Russian Federation. I will always say that the existing sanctions are a great stupidity. I hope that relations between Europe and Russia will improve in the near future.”

Relations, however, have only deteriorated since then. Still, all the key figures in the future Slovak government see their country’s interest in co-operation with Russia. In the current circumstances, this automatically means their refusal to co-operate with the Kiev authorities.

One might assume that the incumbent Slovak President Zuzana Chaputova would be pushing the new cabinet, but she has made it clear that she is not going to do so. After winning the election Smer-SD Chaputova did not approve the next military aid package to Ukraine proposed by the outgoing government. In this way, the Slovak president showed that she respects the results of democratic elections. In her opinion, ignoring the Smer-SD’s position on the Ukrainian issue “would set an unfortunate precedent for the future.”

Kirill Averyanov, VZGLYAD