Fico: Division Among Slovaks Doesn't Benefit Peace

Bratislava, May 8 (TASR) - It doesn't benefit peace when Slovaks get divided over basic issues, so they should rather unite and embrace tradition and values, as dividing the country is deleterious to peace, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) declared during his commemoration of the Victory Day at the Slavin War Memorial in Bratislava on Wednesday. In his speech, Fico claimed that he holds in high esteem every life sacrificed in WW2 to defeat fascism. Fico underlined that Slovakia was liberated by the Red Army and soldiers of the Romanian Army, which, in his view, has fomented a tight bond between Slovaks and inhabitants of the former Soviet Union. The Prime Minister rejects what he sees as history revisionism and accentuated that the victory in WW2 and the largest share in the defeat of fascism belonged to the Red Army of the former Soviet Union. According to Fico, it doesn't benefit peace if war is discussed lightly. Fico is disappointed in the EU, which was created as a peace project, but has failed to offer a feasible peace plan to end the conflict in Ukraine. "That has been a great display of the EU's weakness," he said, adding that the EU is incapable of standing on its own feet when it comes to foreign affairs policy. The only weapon we have, in Fico's opinion, is the respect for international law. He reiterated that Slovakia must do its utmost to have its foreign policy, based on EU and NATO memberships, oriented towards all four cardinal directions. mf/mcs