Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski he declared on May 6 that he was ready to dissolve relations with the Slovak prime minister Robert Fitzon the condition that Bratislava does not block the European Union’s support to Ukraine, the TASR agency reported.
“A few days ago I read an interview with Prime Minister Fico. He actually sounded very positive. If he unblocks aid to Ukraine, and even if he goes to Russia, maybe we can forgive him,” said Sikorski at the Defense24 Days conference in Warsaw, writes Kyiv Independent.
Fico is scheduled to travel to Moscow on May 9 for Russia’s Victory Day celebrations, despite opposition from other EU members, who have refused to allow him to use their airspace to travel to Russia.
Tensions between Bratislava and Kiev escalated after the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies oil to Slovakia and Hungary, stopped operating in January after Kiev announced it had been damaged in a Russian attack in western Ukraine.
Fitz’s turnaround on the horizon?
Despite the recent tightening, Fico is in conversation with the president Volodymyr Zelenskyi On May 2, he again expressed his support for Ukraine’s path towards the European Union and emphasized that no peace agreement with Russia can be reached without Kiev at the negotiating table.
The Slovak Prime Minister and Zelensky then met in Yerevan on May 4, continuing the constructive dialogue between the two leaders.
It is too quick to say that all this represents a turnaround in relation to Fico’s previous policy, which energetically supported the now former Hungarian prime minister. Viktor Orbán in blocking European aid to Ukraine, as well as imposing sanctions on Russia, but it is certainly an interesting political signal. We remind you that Orbán lost the parliamentary elections in April after 16 years.
The two have long been considered Moscow’s closest allies within the European Union.
Sikorski said at the conference that the new Hungarian leadership is expected to approve European aid to Ukraine.
