2023-10-27 01:42:22
Bratislava: Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fitzow stopped the military aid given to Ukraine the day following taking office. Pro-Russian Fitzo announced yesterday that he would no longer supply Ukraine with arms but would continue to provide humanitarian aid. He also said that the EU should turn from arms suppliers to peacemakers to end conflicts.
Fitzo also criticized Western sanctions once morest Russia. Fitzo, 59, was Slovakia’s prime minister from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018. Fitzo’s Direction – Social Democracy party came out on top in elections earlier this month in Slovakia, a member of the European Union and NATO, winning 42 of the 150 seats in the parliament. The majority wants 76 seats.
Subsequently, Voj formed a coalition government with the Slovak National Party. At the same time, Russia did not react significantly to Slovakia’s decision to stop military aid to Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Slovakia does not have a major role in supplying arms to Ukraine, so Slovakia’s decision will not affect the current conflict. Slovakia previously provided Ukraine with fighter jets, S-300 defense system and armored vehicles.
Behind the animosity
In January 2009, when Fitzo was Prime Minister. A conflict has arisen between Russia and Ukraine over natural gas. Russian gas has stopped flowing through Ukraine to EU countries. This incident in the middle of winter caused a great crisis in Slovakia.
Factories were forced to close due to lack of gas. It is estimated that this cost the Slovak economy around 100 million euros per day. With this, Fitzo had a phone conversation with Vladimir Putin, the then Prime Minister of Russia, and Yulia Tymoshenko, the Prime Minister of Ukraine.
Later, a Slovak delegation led by Fitzo arrived in Kyiv to meet with the Ukrainian government. However, the group had to wait for several hours in Kiev. Three hours later, the delegation was escorted by Ukrainian authorities to a meeting packed with journalists. At the press conference, Tymoshenko strongly criticized Fitzow for taking Russia’s side in the gas dispute.
It lasted for regarding 20 minutes. This infuriated Fitzo. The group soon reached Moscow. There they were received by Putin in an elaborate ceremony at the Kremlin’s St. George’s Hall. It was following this incident that Fitzo began to publicly express his anti-Ukraine stance.
NATO has a headache
Fitzow’s moves might cause headaches for NATO and Ukraine. Fitzo’s main election campaign promise was to end military aid to Ukraine if he came to power. Fitzo supports Russia and is once morest America. Blaming American intervention as the cause of conflict in Ukraine, Fitzo says that Ukraine should be ready for peace talks with Russia.
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