Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) on Friday welcomed an initiative by European Council President Antonio Costa, whose office this week opened lines of communication with Russia. According to Fico, maintaining a communication channel with Moscow is essential. He reiterated his view that the conflict in Ukraine has no military solution.
The Slovak Premier said that such communication is important partly in light of drone incursions into the territory of European Union-member states, pointing out that a drone carrying explosives was recently intercepted in waters near Greece.
The Prime Minister also referred to Thursday's talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He stated that they hold fundamentally different views on many issues but that mutual dialogue remains necessary. The two leaders discussed an upcoming joint meeting of the Slovak and Ukrainian governments, which could take place in Bratislava, Kyiv or Lviv.
Regarding the migration pact that has entered into force, Fico reiterated that the Slovak government doesn't consider this to be a successful piece of legislation. He also revealed that Slovakia would rather pay around €4 million into the so-called mandatory solidarity mechanism for migrant redistribution in 2026 than accept its allocated number of migrants.
The EU leaders' summit continues on Friday with discussions on the Middle East. The Prime Minister is also due to hold talks at the European Commission, where he intends to raise concerns about the alleged misuse of subsidies by non-governmental organisations in Slovakia.
Source: TASR
