Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has sparked domestic, European and Ukrainian criticism in an interview on Wednesday, the 30th of October, with Russia’s chief propagandist Olga Skabeyeva on Russian state television Rossiya 1, expressing his desire to visit Moscow on the anniversary of the Second World War next year and criticising the European Union’s (EU) position on Ukraine, which was strongly condemned by former head of state Igor Matovic, reports Politico.
“What a horrible treacherous ferret,” Matovic, who served as the country’s prime minister from 2020 to 2021, said in a Facebook post.
The pro-Russian Slovak leader Fico gave an interview on the political talk show “60 Minutes”, hosted by Russia’s sanctioned chief propagandist Skabeyeva, known as “Putin’s TV iron puppet” for her criticism of Russia’s political opposition and the West.
Previously, she dismissed the massacre in Bucha, Ukraine, by the Russian occupation forces, calling it a “hoax” staged by the West to create a “fake version of Srebrenica”, referring to the infamous period during the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s in which 8 000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Serbian troops.
In the interview, Fico accused the West of “prolonging the war” by supporting Ukraine, described Western sanctions against Russia as ineffective and said he was ready for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The European Union is saying to the Ukrainians: here are the weapons, here is the money, go to war, just don’t disturb us, we don’t want to be involved in this war anymore,” Fico said.
The Slovak leader added that he would like to visit Moscow on the 9th of May next year, when the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe will be commemorated.
Fico’s pre-recorded appearance on a propaganda channel sparked outrage among Slovak opposition politicians, MEPs and Ukrainian officials.
“Slovak Prime Minister Fico gave an interview to Russian propagandist Olga Skabeyeva. I would remind you that Skabeyeva called for the occupation of Ukraine, the killing of Ukrainians and for incitement to hatred against Ukraine. Fico can just move to Moscow if he loves Russia so much,” said Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Member of the Ukrainian Parliament, in a post on X.
Nigel Baker, the British ambassador to Slovakia, said it was “regrettable” that Fico had agreed to the interview.
“The claim that the West is not interested in peace is false. We support #Zelenskyy’s peace plan. And the quickest way to peace is for [Russia] to leave [Ukrainian] territory,” he wrote on X.
Czech MEP Danuše Nerudová of the European People’s Party said Fico had confirmed that he was a “threat to European security”.
Michal Šimečka, leader of the opposition Slovak Progressive Party, called Fico’s speech “a huge disgrace”.
“At home, his government is collapsing, healthcare is not a topic for the Prime Minister, but he will find time to serve Putin”, he said.
Opposition Freedom and Solidarity MP Juraj Krúpa described the interview as “unprecedented” at a press conference, adding that “even [pro-Moscow Hungarian Prime Minister] Viktor Orbán would not have dared [to do so]”.