Fico: Slovakia Won't Participate in Another War Loan to Ukraine

Bratislava, 7 January (TASR) - Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) on Wednesday stated that Slovakia won't participate in any further war loans to Ukraine, adding that such loans only serve to prolong suffering, which is in stark contrast with the current government's peace policy, TASR reported based on information provided by the Government Office on the same day. Fico added that, as a matter of principle, he prefers bilateral and mutually beneficial cooperation with Ukraine, which is based on joint government sessions, over the plans of the so-called Coalition of the Willing. According to him, recent events clearly underline the fundamental differences in foreign policy between the current government and the opposition. "After I received an invitation to the United States to meet President Donald Trump, the opposition accused me of arranging the invitation myself, and now they are asking me to decline the visit. At the same time, the opposition criticises me for not going to Paris for the meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing to help Ukraine until its very end," remarked Fico. He believes that if the government consisted of the current opposition parties, it would "serve" Brussels, while a sovereign Slovak foreign policy could be kissed goodbye. According to him, fundamental differences can also be seen in how events in Ukraine are approached. "If a group of countries, for example, without Italy or the Czech Republic and others, yesterday wanted to send their troops to Ukrainian territory, Slovakia couldn't stop them. However, I can firmly reiterate, even for the thousandth time, that no Slovak soldier will enter Ukraine's territory as part of multinational military forces while my government is in power," stated Fico. He likewise noted that Slovakia cannot prevent the Coalition of the Willing from providing another war loan, but it won't take part. Fico also rejected the donation of weapons. As prime minister, he can imagine Slovakia participating, as Ukraine's neighbour, in monitoring a peace agreement or a ceasefire. Instead of the plans of the Coalition of the Willing, he prefers cooperation with Ukraine based on joint government sessions with a focus on civil cooperation, energy and transport connections, assisting with electricity or gas, and humanitarian aid, such as demining equipment. He stressed that he's long been presenting a different view on the war in Ukraine when compared to Germany or the United Kingdom. "I don't believe in their strategy; it's wrong, and only leads to further bloodshed, while it's naïve to expect the Russian Federation to be weakened totally. The strength of the current government is that it expresses its own opinion freely. We haven't succumbed to the dangerous Brussels policy of a single mandatory opinion, which is destroying democracy to an unprecedented extent," stated Fico. jrg/df