Slovakia will no longer send military aid to Ukraine from its armed forces, but private contracts with the Slovakian military will remain in effect, Slovak parliamentary speaker Peter Pellegrini said during a meeting with EU Parliament head Roberta Metsola, Slovak political newspaper HNonline reported on Jan. 23.
Read also: Slovak PM Fico arrives in Uzhhorod to meet with Ukrainian counterpart Shmyhal
Pellegrini stated that ammunition for Ukraine is being manufactured at partially state-owned companies and that facilities in eastern Slovakia, where war-damaged Ukrainian military equipment is being repaired at the initiative of Germany, will not be closed.
He also underlined that Slovakia “should be judged by its actions, not by political statements,” referring to the humanitarian and technical assistance that Slovakia continues to provide to Ukraine, demining assistance, and the supply of aid from Slovakia’s Ministry of Health.
Pellegrini also added that the Prime Ministers of Slovakia and Ukraine will discuss ongoing cooperation between the two countries in detail during a working meeting in Uzhhorod on Jan. 24, where Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is scheduled to meet with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Fico intends to confirm once again that he opposes Ukraine’s membership in NATO.
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“The real actions that Slovakia is taking are important, and it is less important to talk about the way the party expresses itself,” explained Pellegrini.
According to him, the fact that the Slovak government will not send military aid to Kyiv “does not mean that Slovakia is turning away from Ukraine.”
When asked whether Slovakia would support a financial aid package for Ukraine at the EU summit in Brussels next week, Pellegrini said that the coalition council had not yet discussed the issue. He added that Slovakia is one of the countries that want to be sure that the proposed $50 billion in aid for Ukraine will not be lost to corruption. He did not provide any examples of cases of misused aid in Ukraine.
The pro-Russian Smer-SD party led by Fico won the Slovak parliamentary elections on Oct.1.
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.”
Rico has previously amplified false Russian narratives, claiming that “the war began in 2014, when Ukrainian Nazis and fascists began killing Russian citizens in Donbas and Luhansk.”
Fico cynically stated that “life in the capital of Ukraine is normal,”after the Russian bombardment of Kyiv on Jan. 23.
He also believes that Ukraine should surrender part of its territory to Russia to stop the war, despite official Russian statements expressing their intent to conquer all or most of Ukraine’s territory, including the capital, Kyiv.
Read also: It’s a ‘red line’ — Ukraine must cancel visit of Slovakian PM Fico after outrageous comments — UA MP
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine