Fico about the summit in Brussels: What does Ukraine do for us? It just hurts us
BRATISLAVA. Three days after a diplomatic fiasco in the White House among the presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Greeny and three days before the Extraordinary Summit of the European Union in Brussels Prime Minister Robert Fico (Direction) sends an unclear signal as it is preserved at the meeting.
« I will not say whether I will block or block the summit, » he says about a meeting where leaders of 27 Member States of the Union are to negotiate support Ukraineon the drastic change of US policy towards Ukraine and Europe, as well as on the strengthening of European defense.
He said in a situation where the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán He has already announced that he had trouble supporting the proposed conclusions of the summit. In this case, the European Council must decide unanimously.
Investment in defense and debt debt
What attitudes does Fico want for Slovakia at the summit? Slovakia will support the strengthening of the European Defense so that it no longer rely on the help of the United States. Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Juraj Blanár They argue that this means supporting the European defense industry so that most weapons are no longer bought from the US.
However, Fico calls for investment in defense and increasing expenditure in this area not to count the country's debt.
« We are ready to participate in this constructively, provided that there are exceptions in terms of the growth and stability pact and that we will be able to put dual destination projects in the arms expenses, » he said.
This would mean that investment, which is also useful for civilian purposes, would also be calculated in defense expenditure. Such a project of the current government is the construction of the Prešov hospital.
Ukraine support? Only bilateral
Despite the fact that at least 20 Member States of the European Union have expressed an even stronger solidarity to Ukrainian President Greeny and Ukraine, Fico remains in an attitude to which Ukraine refuses to provide military assistance.
« If the European Union decides to continue to support Ukraine massively and militarily, it can only be on a bilateral basis, » he says.
Russia conquered the United States (writes Samo March) Read
Question to stop fighting
Both Fico and Blanár call on the one hand to immediately stop the fighting, « even if the peace negotiations lasted ten years, » but so far they have not even presented, what procedure they subsequently propose whether they support.
The joint proposal of British Prime Minister Keira Starmer And French President Emanuel Macron on the declaration of a ceasefire after reaching several agreements Fico criticized that reaching such a situation may take years.
Therefore, Fico in Brussels will propose for Slovakia to immediately stop the fighting. At the same time, the Prime Minister did not say what exactly should happen after the ceasefire. It is these conditions that are part of the British-French proposal.
The ceasefire must be guaranteed by military force. Therefore, Britain, France and « one or two other countries », according to Macron, preliminarily agree to send their troops to Ukraine to enforce the ceasefire and check whether there is a violation.
At the same time, Fico refuses to send Slovak soldiers to Ukraine to help secure the ceasefire he is talking about. « What does Ukraine do for us? Just harm us, » the Prime Minister responded with reference to stopping the transit of Russian gas through the Ukrainian territory.
Understanding for Trump
Fico's attitudes are not sufficiently obvious to the overall participation of the European Union in the peace process in Ukraine. So far, he has expressed his understanding of why the US was negotiating under Trump's leadership with Russia without the participation of the European Union and Ukraine. He claimed that the Union is not a trusted partner for the US.
On the other hand on Monday, he said that the Union should leave the US and Mask peacefully negotiate. « If Russia and the United States want to create a background, let's leave them for a while to communicate with each other and then Ukraine can be added at some point, and Europe can also be added, » Fico said.
Before the start of the summit on Thursday, the Prime Minister will attend the European Affairs Committee meeting in the morning. MEPs should approve the resolution with which proposals Fico Slovakia should represent. The coalition has a majority in the committee.
War in Ukraine
