Fico Welcomes EU Council Chief's Russia Outreach (3)

Brussels/Bratislava, 19 June (TASR-correspondent) - Prime Minister Robert Fico on Friday welcomed an initiative by European Council President Antonio Costa, whose office this week opened lines of communication with Russia. According to Fico, maintaining a communication channel with Moscow is essential. He reiterated his view that the conflict in Ukraine has no military solution, TASR's special correspondent reports. Fico underlined that he's among the prime ministers who support dialogue with Russia. The Slovak premier said that such communication is important partly in light of drone incursions into the territory of European Union-member states, pointing out that a drone carrying explosives was recently intercepted in waters near Greece. "We aren't yet discussing who should conduct such contact or what form it should take. We're discussing whether it should exist or not. I certainly prefer negotiation and dialogue to war," said Fico, adding that the issue isn't negotiations with Russia but communication. The prime minister also referred to Thursday's talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He stated that they hold fundamentally different views on many issues but that mutual dialogue remains necessary. The two leaders discussed an upcoming joint meeting of the Slovak and Ukrainian governments, which could take place in Bratislava, Kiev or Lviv. On Ukraine's EU-membership aspirations, Fico said that it isn't possible to prevent the country from seeking accession to the bloc. However, he argued that Serbia, Albania and Montenegro are far better prepared for membership. "If Ukraine is interested, it can learn something from us. As far as the experience of joining the EU is concerned, we're ready to help. However, I see this as a long-term process because there's a vast number of conditions that will need to be met," said the prime minister. Regarding the migration pact that has entered into force, Fico reiterated that the Slovak government doesn't consider this to be a successful piece of legislation. He also revealed that Slovakia would rather pay around €4 million into the so-called mandatory solidarity mechanism for migrant redistribution in 2026 than accept its allocated number of migrants. "We looked for alternative solutions that we wanted to offer to other countries, but there was no particular interest in them," he said. The mechanism is intended to ease pressure on countries receiving the largest numbers of migrants. Slovakia has long opposed the system and had sought an exemption. The EU leaders' summit continues on Friday with discussions on the Middle East. The prime minister is also due to hold talks at the European Commission, where he intends to raise concerns about the alleged misuse of subsidies by non-governmental organisations in Slovakia. NOTE: This story has been extended to include the penultimate paragraph mf/df