(source: TASR/AP )
Welcome to your weekly commentary and overview of news from Slovakia. With most European leaders rallying behind Ukrainian President Zelensky following Trump and Vance’s verbal assault, Slovakia’s ruling politicians profess to be unconcerned. Coalition politicians are at odds over Slovakia’s vote in the UN. Fico has presented a new coalition deal to Pellegrini – but the government crisis is not over yet.
If you have a suggestion on how to make this overview better, let me know at michaela.terenzani@spectator.sk.
What Friday’s White House bust-up means for Slovakia
After Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky left the White House on Friday, following his political mugging at the hands of US President Donald Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance, international observers predicted that the countries on NATO’s eastern flank would be feeling “nervous”, while the Kremlin would be “celebrating”. Nobody spoke of Slovakia in particular, even though it is one of the eastern-flank states. In fact, its leaders remained nonchalant about the fall-out.
Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, and his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orbán, were the only leaders of EU member states not to offer their full support to a man who for three years has led his country’s defence against all-out Russian invasion – and, by extension, has kept the enemy away from NATO’s door.
Against the backdrop of immediate reactions from European partners telling Ukrainians “we stand by you”, Fico let Friday night and Saturday morning pass in silence before issuing a statement – on Facebook, naturally – which he prefaced by stressing that it represented only a recitation of his “fundamental stances” from the day before, before going on to complain “I am expected to react to the events in the White House as one of the top constitutional officials.”
