Weapons for Ukraine as a "war crime": Slovak left-wing populist Fico follows Orbán's path
Created: 04/28/2022, 04:57
By: Aleksandra Fedorska
Robert Fico, former Prime Minister and head of the left-wing populist opposition party Direction Social Democracy, leaves a police station.
Former Prime Minister Robert Fico was arrested in Slovakia on Thursday evening in front of cameras.
© Jaroslav Novak/dpa
Slovakia was the first country to hand over the S-300 missile defense system to Ukraine.
Fico released a recording - putting the cargo and lives at risk.
Bratislava – On April 7, even before the official announcement of the delivery of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine, former Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico published pictures of the devices.
The video clip showed the war equipment loaded onto railroad cars.
In doing so, he seriously endangered security and the success of the handover to Ukraine.
Fico criticizes the policy of the incumbent government under Eduard Heger with regard to the Ukraine war.
The delivery was "madness" and a "war crime" was announced by the left-wing populist.
His rhetoric and reasoning is very similar to Viktor Orban's statements.
According to him, Slovakia should stay out of the conflict and avoid unnecessary costs for the benefit of its own people.
Arms deliveries to Ukraine: Slovak left-wing populist Fico follows Orban's path
Slovakia is the first country to deliver a weapon system as important as the S-300 to war-torn Ukraine.
The Ukrainian army is already trained to operate the S-300 system, which could significantly help it better defend its own airspace from Russian missile attacks.
“I want to confirm that Slovakia has provided Ukraine with an S-300 air defense system.
The nation of Ukraine bravely defends its sovereign country and us.
It is our duty to help, stand by her and not ignore the losses caused by Russia's aggression," Prime Minister Heger wrote on Twitter on April 8.
Slovakia previously agreed to the delivery on condition that its own airspace defenses be secured.
In March, NATO allies Germany and the Netherlands brought three Patriot system batteries to Slovakia.
However, these are not owned by Slovakia and Slovakia's Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad said they would complement, not replace, the S-300 system.
"The deployment of Patriots to Slovakia fits perfectly with our previous efforts to strengthen NATO's defense capabilities and demonstrate our collective security requirements under Article 5 of the NATO treaty," said US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Slovakia: The left-wing populist Fico is pushing back to power with populist actions
A bitter battle has been raging in Slovakia's domestic politics for years.
The politically motivated murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová in 2018 completely changed Slovakia's politics.
The investigation revealed close ties to the country's leading political party, Smer, with organized crime.
Robert Fico, whose Social Democrat party moved to the opposition camp after losing the 2020 general election, resigned as prime minister.
But more evidence is constantly coming to light incriminating the Smer and former members of the Fico cabinet.
In the course of the resumption of the court proceedings to clarify the role of those who commissioned the murder, Robert Kaliňák, who was interior minister in Fico's government, is now suspected of having founded and operated a criminal ring.
Despite the disastrous reputation, Fico is anything but defeated.
Especially under the conditions of the corona crisis, Fico increasingly moved into the limelight.
The protests against the government's corona policy and the promotion of other protests helped him to improve poll numbers.
The populist and his Smer party are now doing significantly better in the polls than Eduard Heger's OĽaNO.
Fico draws his popularity above all from the aggressive rhetoric and harsh criticism of the government and Slovakian President Zuzana Čaputová, as well as the usual anti-American tones.
Robert Fico in Slovakia: left-wing populist comments on the Ukraine war and the S-300 delivery
“They are ordinary, ridiculous American characters who, day by day, are dragging Slovakia deeper into the war in Ukraine, with which Slovakia has nothing to do.
Since last night we have been urging the government to confirm the delivery of the S-300 system to Ukraine, as we have relevant material,” Fico said in relation to the S-300 delivery, just before the Prime Minister confirmed the arms delivery.
Peter Pellegrini, the head of the opposition social-democratic Hlas-SD, also uses very sharp and insulting rhetoric towards the government and the head of state.
The Hlas-SD, which once emerged from the Smer, leads the current election polls with 18 percent.
"It is not only a government of chaos, failure and poverty, but also a government of absolute liars and people who betrayed the protection of the national interests of the Slovak Republic," Pellegrini quoted in Slovak
Pravda
.
“Robert Fico and Peter Pellegrini are acting in the interests of Russia and supporting the defeat of Ukraine.
This is also shown by their reactions to the delivery of the S-300 defense system to Ukraine,” Heger replied to the opposition attacks.
(Aleksandra Fedorska)
