The Czech government, by canceling intergovernmental consultations with Slovakia, has jeopardized the deep relations between the two countries due to different views on the situation in Ukraine, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said.
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On Wednesday, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that Czech-Slovak consultations will not take place in the coming weeks and months; the Czech government considers this inappropriate due to differences in foreign policy.
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“The Slovak government will never – I repeat, never – jeopardize the deep Czech-Slovak relations in any way. We take note that the leaders of the Czech government decided to put them at risk only because they are interested in supporting the war in Ukraine, while the Slovak government speaks openly about peace,” Fico said in a video message posted on his Facebook page.
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According to Fico, the decision of the Czech government will not affect the sovereign foreign policy of Slovakia.
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“The government of the Czech Republic is welcome in Slovakia at any time. We will not burden our political relations in Slovakia with different views on the world that have nothing to do with Czech-Slovak coexistence,” he said.
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The main differences in foreign policy between the governments of neighboring republics are related to Ukraine. While Prague actively supports Kyiv, including with the supply of military equipment, the new government of Slovakia, headed by Prime Minister Fico, formed following last year’s autumn parliamentary elections, refused to supply weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In addition, the leaders of the countries sharply disagree in their assessment of the causes of the conflict in Ukraine.
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Previously, the Slovak government decided to focus on humanitarian assistance and no longer send weapons to Ukraine. The Cabinet of Ministers, headed by Fico, did not approve the proposal of the previous government, which concerned sending the next package of military assistance to Ukraine for 40.3 million euros. It was mainly about ammunition. This package of military assistance was supposed to be the 14th from Slovakia; since February 2022, the republic has sent Ukraine weapons, ammunition and equipment worth 671 million euros.
