Robert Fitzo Photo: Bernadett Szabo / Reuters
“We want to build strong relations between our countries and both are interested in this. It was important to hear that Slovakia supports Ukraine’s accession to the EU and is ready to share its experience of going through the negotiation process,” Ewronews quoted the Ukrainian president’s statement as saying.
Meanwhile, it became known that on Monday they will meet at the summit of the European Political Community in Yerevan. This was announced by Robert Fitzo on Saturday.
Robert Fitzo’s restrained policy
At the same time, the Slovak prime minister did not mention in his Saturday statement what exactly he talked about with the Ukrainian president in connection with Ukraine’s membership in the EU. He only made public that despite differences with the Ukrainian leader on a number of issues, Slovakia would like Ukraine to be a stable and democratic country and for the two countries to have friendly relations.
So far, Robert Fico has mostly shared outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s position on Ukraine, although he has not always participated in blocking EU decisions.
But he played a prominent role in the weeks-long conflict over the Druzhba oil pipeline. He was ahead of the Hungarian government in suspending electricity supplies to Ukraine, and later, following Budapest’s example, he stopped fuel supplies as well.
In general, Fitzo balances his commitments to Western alliances with the pro-Russian electorate at home. In practice, this means a restrained but not completely rejecting Ukraine.
