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‘His statements about Ukraine mobilize radical segments of society’ Meduza unpacks the Slovak Prime Minister’s anti-Ukraine rhetoric

Source: Meduza

Since Robert Fico assumed his fourth term as Slovakia’s Prime Minister in October 2023, he has called Ukraine “one of the most corrupt countries in the world,” stopped arms shipments to Ukraine’s Armed Forces, and promised to block E.U. aid to Kyiv. But when Fico met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on January 24, the two agreed to a bilateral policy of “new pragmatism,” pledging not to obstruct E.U. aid and expressing his support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s “peace forum.” Meduza asked Slovak journalist Anna Mogilevskaya to unpack Fico’s anti-Ukraine rhetoric and explain the stark contrast between his domestic and foreign policy.

The Slovak Prime Minister’s opposition to arming Ukraine

Robert Fico’s first official visit to Ukraine lasted only half a day. He met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal at around 10:00 a.m. local time on January 24 in Uzhhorod, a city in western Ukraine, not far from the border with Slovakia. While the politicians agreed to “continued cooperation,” no other details about their meeting were announced. Right after dinner, Fico flew to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Before the bilateral meeting in Uzhhorod took place, Fico said that “Ukraine is not a sovereign country and is under the total influence of the U.S.” and called the return of territories occupied by Russia “unrealistic.” “What are Ukrainians waiting for? For Russians to leave Donbas and Luhansk? Or Crimea? It’s not realistic. The conflict can’t be solved through military means, and prolonging it will only strengthen Russia’s positions,” said the Slovak Prime Minister in an interview with Radio and Television of Slovakia.

Fico has maintained this position since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 (when he was a lawmaker in the opposition). “An immediate halt to combat operations is the best solution we have for Ukraine. The E.U. should change from an arms supplier to a peacemaker. Let them spend 10 years holding peace talks rather than 10 years killing each other with no result,” said Fico in late October 2023, one day after assuming office.

One of his first decisions as prime minister was to stop sending equipment and ammo from state and army warehouses to Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Slovakia had previously sent 13 military aid packages worth 671 million euros (around $720 million), including an S-300 air defense system, 13 MiG-29 fighter jets, Mi-171 helicopters, infantry fighting vehicles, ammunition, and anti-tank systems.

Fico has also spoken out against Ukraine’s membership in NATO and promised to block Kyiv’s potential accession. “It would be nothing but the basis for a third World War,” said Fico.

‘In Slovakia, a significant portion of the population openly sympathizes with Russia’

Robert Fico, who leads the Smer political party, adopted a harsher approach to Ukraine in mid-2022, explains Slovak political scientist Jozef Lenč from the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius: “Around this period, Smer politicians began talking about a peaceful solution, centered on ending military support for Ukraine, and it giving up occupied and annexed territories.”

The Smer party maintains that the war in Ukraine started because of “provocations from NATO and the U.S.” and because “Ukrainian nazis” infringed upon the rights of Russian-speakers in the Donbas. Lenč explained that such statements were Fico’s way of trying to attract voters from the far-right, who tend to hold pro-Russian views. “And that’s what he succeeded in doing,” said Lenč.

Smer’s agenda essentially helped Fico win the election, says Slovak political scientist Radoslav Štefančík from the University of Economics in Bratislava. Originally founded as a centrist party, Smer later became a social democratic party, and drifted toward left-wing populism after the most recent parliamentary elections. Its position on Ukraine, however, was what helped Smer attract voters from the far-right, and what ultimately allowed the party to receive nearly a quarter of the votes.

After the election, Fico became Slovakia’s prime minister for the fourth time. Štefančík says Fico’s political career has been built on “pragmatism” rather than on ideology. “If Fico makes some kind of statement, it means that he sees it as advantageous in that moment. He only does what scores him political points,” says Štefančík. “In Slovakia, a significant portion of the population openly sympathizes with Russia, calls Putin a hero, and denies that the Russian army has commited war crimes in Ukraine. This is Fico’s target group now. He’s trying to hold on to their sympathies with his anti-Ukrainian populist rhetoric.”

According to a survey conducted by research center Globesec in March 2023, half of the country’s population believes that the West is to blame for the war in Ukraine. What’s more, 69 percent of survey respondents believe that supplying weapons to Kyiv provokes Russia and brings Slovakia itself closer to the war.

Štefančík says it’s more important to pay attention to what Fico does, rather than what he says: “Slovakia really has stopped sending military aid to Ukraine, but it’s worth asking a question here: what else could the country have offered Ukraine? The most important thing is that Slovakia already sent its S-300 system and all the army’s available MiG-29 fighter jets.”

Notably, Fico didn’t stop Slovak weapon and military equipment manufacturers, including state-owned enterprises, from fulfilling their commercial orders to the Ukrainian army. For example, the Slovak Defense Ministry’s Konštrukta-Defence company received a priority order to supply 24 Zuzana 2 howitzers to Ukraine’s Armed Forces. Their production was paid for by Denmark, Norway, and Germany, with a contract valued at 93 million euros (around $100 million). This order was so critical for the company that Slovakia postponed the production of howitzers for its own army.

‘Statements about Ukraine mobilize radical segments of society, but don’t reflect Slovakia’s official policies’

Robert Fico’s disparaging comments about Ukraine are aimed exclusively at his domestic audience, says Radoslav Štefančík. And according to Joseph Lenč, that’s how Fico tries to mobilize his electorate. “Anti-American statements and criticizing Ukraine are relatively easy ways to achieve this goal,” said Štefančík.

Smer’s ruling coalition includes far-right eurosceptics from the Slovak Nationalist Party, who criticize Fico for his rhetoric being too soft when he’s in Brussels. “The fact that Fico supported the joint statement in support of Ukraine at the fall E.U. summit caused definite discontent within the coalition,” said Lenč. It’s likely that the prime minister decided that it was time to demonstrate a tougher approach to his partners.

In general, Fico is more focused on domestic, rather than foreign policy, explains Štefančík. There is now widespread discussion of sweeping reform of criminal law, which the government has been trying to pass through parliament for two months and has sparked nation-wide protests.

“Thousands of unhappy citizens protest against Fico’s party and his government. In parliament, his ruling coalition maintains a slim majority. The opposition is breathing down his neck,” explains Štefančík. It’s clear that the prime minister is trying to shift the focus to another topic that resonates, notes the political scientist: “I would say that his statements about Ukraine mobilize radical segments of society, but don’t reflect Slovakia’s official policies.”

The Fico administration’s position is clearly stated in its platform, which says Slovakia will only support a resolution in Ukraine based on the principles of international law and its right to self-defense. If Fico hadn’t agreed with these principles, then these statements wouldn’t have made it into the document, explains Štefančík.

Fico’s speeches outside of Slovakia further support the fact that his anti-Ukrainian rhetoric is aimed exclusively at his domestic audience. The most recent such example was his meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Shmyhal, where the Slovak leader refrained from criticizing Ukraine, and instead promised to support Kyiv in the process of European integration and to continue cooperating in the field of commercial supplies of military equipment. Fico also expressed his support for the Zelensky-led Peace Forum.

While at meetings with European leaders, Fico backs nearly all the European Council’s resolutions, even if he had previously expressed his opposition, explains Lenč. For example, though the Slovak prime minister has called on the E.U. to “transform itself from an arms supplier to a peacemaker,” he proceeded to join the other European heads of state to vote in support of military aid to Ukraine for as long as it would be necessary.

For Fico, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has served as an example: a European leader who criticizes the E.U.’s policies toward Ukraine. But in contrast to Orban, notes Štefančík, Fico can’t be considered a pro-Russian politician: “He understands perfectly well that cooperating with Russia would make Slovakia into an outcast. Besides, he remembers that Slovakia gets its money from Brussels — not Russia.”