Fico: Strategic Agreement among Superpowers and New Rules Are Necessary

Presov, 23 September (TASR) - Reaching a strategic agreement among the world's superpowers will be of paramount importance, along with setting new rules, which should involve a reform of the United Nations, reinforcing all of its bodies, and strengthening a multilateral world where international order and international law would play a far more important role, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said in his speech during the opening ceremony of the new academic year at the University of Presov on Tuesday. According to Fico, "we are witnessing the total disintegration of the existing world order. It is completely different from the one which was in place on 1 January 1993, when the Slovak Republic was founded, or in May 2004, when we joined the European Union. Both of these decisions were right." "This is our living space, we belong to Western civilisation. Yes, we were convinced that, above all, Europe is where the best life, the best work and the highest quality of human existence come together," Fico said, wondering whether these values can be guaranteed in the years to come. According to him, there is an increasing tendency among superpowers to adopt unilateral decisions in pursuit of their own interests to the detriment of other countries, disregarding the international order based on the principles of the UN Charter. Fico also pointed to the absence of compromises, rules and mutual respect, and added that new rules for the world order will be necessary. "In the EU, we have a serious problem with morality and with double standards. On the one hand, we are able to make decisions on a daily basis regarding the very unfair and bad war in Ukraine, marked by a gross violation of international law. On the other hand, the EU is no able to speak wisely and in unison when it comes to what's happening in Gaza today," Fico said. According to him, there are two possible paths to take: either conflicts with widening gaps and mutual disregard, or "talking to each other, respecting each other, without building new iron curtains." "We will try to reach an agreement on expanding the UN Security Council to include other major countries and we will promote multilateralism instead of forceful solutions, such as the proposal to abolish the right of veto in the EU, which would be the end of the EU," added Fico. jrg