Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico took part in this year's edition of the Conservative Political Action Conference in the United States, BTA reported.
In his speech at the conference on Friday (February 21), Fico said that Europe today needs a diversity of opinions, because the politics of a single correct opinion is destroying it and those who swim “against the current“ are marginalized and punished, according to a material by the Slovak news agency TASR, dedicated to key points from the Slovak leader's speech.
Fico stressed that he cannot wait to cooperate with US President Donald Trump.
“My friend, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, recently complained to me, with a smile on his face, of course, that for years he has been tried to make the European Union look in the mirror and that the process was extremely long. And when Donald Trump came, he managed to do it in a few days“, the Slovak prime minister told the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Fico said that no one doubts that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a violation of international law. At the same time, he also said that Russia had “serious security reasons“ to do it, and that the West had been “misleading“ Moscow for a long time on the issue of NATO expansion. The Slovak prime minister also said that Ukraine had become the victim of a bad geopolitical strategy that aimed to weaken Russia politically and economically. According to Fico, with “unlimited military, financial and political support“ for Ukraine, combined with sanctions against Russia, has not achieved the desired effect.
Fico said he was surprised by the behavior of the European Union and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who, according to the Slovak Prime Minister, are rejecting peace talks between the United States and Russia.
“It is increasingly beginning to look as if President Zelensky needs this war. As long as the war lasts, democratic elections cannot be held. Zelensky is particularly afraid of them“, Fico said at the conference in the United States, noting that British leader Winston Churchill, for example, lost an election after the end of World War II.
“While the war lasts, it is difficult to investigate where a significant part of the (European) funding for Ukraine goes and where a large part of the weapons go. Zelensky knows that as long as the war lasts, he has the absolute support of the European Union,“ said the Slovak Prime Minister.
Fico called on the European Union to help the new American government at all costs to put an end to the “senseless slaughter“ of people in Ukraine – even if this means adopting a peaceful solution that does not correspond to the idea of a just peace for Ukraine or the preservation of its territorial integrity. In addition, Fico called on the EU not to create obstacles for Trump, which caused applause in the hall where the Slovak leader delivered his speech.
Robert Fico also warned that the liberal and progressive ideology is going through a stage of “dangerous radicalization“. In this context, TASR notes, he mentioned the planned changes to the Slovak constitution, in which he wants to write that there are only two genders in Slovakia – male and female, and to specify that only married couples can adopt children.
The Slovak Prime Minister also criticized the EU's mandatory quotas for the redistribution of migrants.
Fico also mentioned his meeting with Elon Musk, who heads the Office for Government Efficiency, which plans to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Fico said that USAID has funded media and NGOs in Slovakia, which, thanks to the funding, have become active participants in the political struggle against the government, without having any “political responsibility to citizens“. TASR draws attention to the fact that the Slovak Prime Minister has emphasized the need to require transparency when assessing whether these are useful projects or “blatant interference in internal affairs“ to other countries.
In conclusion, TASR notes, Fico said that, like the new American government, Slovakia wants fair and reciprocal relations between the countries, and called on the United States to cooperate and seek solutions that would eliminate disagreements without the need to introduce tariffs and lead to a spiral of retaliatory measures.
Reactions in Slovakia
In his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Prime Minister Robert Fico spoke in support of national conservatism. He never once mentioned his center-left or social democratic orientation, which he has displayed both in Slovakia and in his contacts with European partners, political scientist Juraj Marusiak told TASR.
Marusiak expressed his surprise at the great discrepancy between Fico's previous anti-American rhetoric and his current solemn tone, with which he has emphasized the closeness and common interests of the United States and Slovakia.
Although he finds nothing surprising in Fico's criticism of most of the EU partners, the Slovak political scientist points out that “negative assessments of the closest partners in the political and economic spheres and, ultimately, in the sphere of defense and security, which are the EU member states, may have negative consequences for Slovakia“.
Marusiak also told TASR that he was not surprised by Fico's position on the war in Ukraine. At the same time, however, the political scientist says that he would find Fico's position astonishing if his statements were to be understood as supporting peace negotiations at the level of world powers, without the participation of the country that became the victim of an invasion.