Slovakia will honor private Ukraine defense deals despite ban on government arms shipments – speaker
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The Slovak government will no longer send any military aid to Ukraine from its armed forces, but will not terminate private military supply contracts, Slovak National Council Speaker Peter Pellegrini said on Jan. 23 during a meeting with the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, HNonline reports.
Ammunition for Ukraine is produced by parastatal enterprises and facilities in eastern Slovakia, where damaged Ukrainian military equipment is being repaired at the initiative of Germany, will not be jeopardize, he said.
Slovakia "should be judged by actions, not by political statements," said Pellegrini, recalling the humanitarian and technical assistance that Bratislava continues to provide to Kyiv. Slovakia also provides important demining assistance and supplies aid from the Ministry of Health.
The premiers of Slovakia and Ukraine will discuss further cooperation at a working meeting in Uzhhorod on Jan. 24, the speaker stated.
"The material actions that Slovakia is taking are important, and it is less important to talk about how the party expresses itself," he said.
The fact that the Slovak government will not send military aid to Kyiv "does not mean that Slovakia is turning away from Ukraine," said Pellegrini.
When asked whether Slovakia would support a financial aid package for Ukraine at the EU summit in Brussels next week, the politician said that the coalition council had not yet discussed the issue. However, he added that Slovakia is one of the countries that wants to be sure that the 50 billion euros ($54.5 billion) for Ukraine will not be wasted and that it would not fall into the hands of speculators.
Peter Pellegrini is the current leader of the Slovak coalition party Voice and the Prime Minister of the country in 2018-2020.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Uzhhorod on Jan. 24. The former intends to reaffirm his opposition to Ukraine's membership in NATO.
The pro-Russian Smer-SD party led by Fico won the Slovak parliamentary elections on Oct. 1, 2023.
He has repeatedly stated that Slovakia will stop military aid to Ukraine and focus only on humanitarian support. Fico also claims that "it is better for Ukraine and Russia to negotiate over the next ten years than to kill each other."
He has previously parroted false Russian narratives, claiming that "the war began in 2014, when Ukrainian Nazis and fascists began killing Russian citizens in Donbas and Luhansk."
After the Russian missile attack on Kyiv on Jan. 23, Fico cynically stated that "life in the capital of Ukraine is normal."
He also believes that Ukraine "should give" Russia part of its territory to end the war.
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