US, Ukraine at risk of losing pro-war European country; Slovakia

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: UnHerd
8 Sep 2023 15:21

The report concludes that if Slovakia's former Prime Minister wins the upcoming elections, he will steer the country to the opposite side of the United States and its Western allies.

Slovakia's former Prime Minister and current elections frontrunner Robert Fico during a campaign rally in 2023 (AFP)

Washington and Kiev are at risk of the emergence of another European country adopting the Hungarian model with regard to the conflict with Russia and subsequently losing an already dropping support to the Western-led war efforts in Ukraine, UnHerd said in a report on Friday.

On September 30, Slovakia is scheduled to hold snap parliamentary elections, where the Direction – Social Democracy party (Smer) is expected to win and garner 20% of the votes.

Leading the party is no other than the country's former Prime Minister Robert Fico; a fierce opposer to European policies, the United States, and the prolonging of the war in neighboring Ukraine.

Slovakia has been a generous provider of arms to Ukraine since the war broke out. Bratislava's military packages included S-300 air defense systems, Mig-29 fighter jets, and Howitzer self-propelled artillery, in addition to serving as a hub for the transport of weapons provided by NATO members to Kiev and a maintenance station for military hardware damaged in Ukraine.

During his campaign, Fico vowed that if his party wins the elections, Slovakia "will not send a single bullet to Ukraine" and take a different position. “I allow myself to have a different opinion to that of the United States [on the war]."

"War always comes from the West and peace from the East," he stressed during one of his campaign speeches.

Fico also called out the US for profiteering from the conflict that is claiming innocent lives and draining countries' military hardware.

With the elections in the United States closing in, fears in pro-war European countries and NATO members are rising over the likely scenario of a Republican taking office, given the party's views on the war in Ukraine; a pointless and money-draining conflict that is not of US concern, but rather a European one.

According to a report by The Atlantic, former US President Donald Trump - who is an extreme opposer to American assistance to Ukraine - was not an outlier in the Republican foreign policy. His anti-war stance on the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and relentless criticism of NATO - considering it a burden on the US - has now become an established view in the party. One of his top arguments is that a prolonged war might end in a direct clash between the United States and Russia.

Fico considered that "what is happening today [in Ukraine] is unnecessary killing, it is the emptying of warehouses to force countries to buy more American weapons.”

As a result, Kiev blacklisted the former Prime Minister for allegedly supporting Russia, although he only announced that he opposes the war pushed by Washington.

His anti-US position, which was described by the report as a "new brand of Left-wing," is growing more powerful in Central Europe following the start of the Ukraine war in 2022.

In recent remarks, one of Fico's MPs said the Czech Republic also shares their views that “the Americans occupy us,” and opposition to Western practices is gaining ground among other countries of the European Union.

According to the report, if Smer dominates the parliament, it is expected that Slovakia would adopt a foreign policy similar to that of Hungary led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban; one of the most explicit critics of the West and a staunch opposer of continued aid to Kiev and Ukraine's admission to the EU and NATO.

Fico's win could amplify more voices that are skeptical of the Western approach to Ukraine, which might release a wave of change in mood across Europe.