Amid the EU discussions about support for Ukraine, Slovak MEP Ľuboš Blaha visited Moscow, meeting with representatives of the Russian Duma and the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence agency, Sergei Naryshkin. President Peter Pellegrini and the Hlas SD party were particularly outraged by remarks from another Smer SD MEP, Erik Kaliňák, who suggested that Russia would be a more reliable economic partner for Slovakia than Ukraine.
“When you look at Slovak-Ukrainian relations and how we've had to save them so many times, after they've built up some kind of conflict with Russia economically, I think now, and how many times they weren't willing to help us, from this perspective, the Russians are a more trustworthy partner for us,” said Erik Kaliňák.
President Peter Pellegrini dismissed his remarks, stating, “I don't think that this young man, who has been in politics for such a short time, is capable of analyzing the world situation by expressing his opinions. They don't need to be taken seriously or relevantly in any way. Because he wants to show off and we do not really have to talk about geopolitics with Erik Kaliňák.”
Ľuboš Blaha, in a video from Moscow’s Red Square, stated that he aimed to send a clear signal that Slovakia and Russia are friendly nations seeking peace and cooperation: “Today we see with our own eyes that while the West is broken, Russia is strong; while the West is declining, Russia is flourishing, the West is losing, and Russia is winning.”
The opposition criticized the government’s stance, while Hlas SD leader Matúš Šutaj Eštok warned that the world situation is too tense for such “cheap bravado.”
Within the ruling coalition, Kaliňák's comments stirred negative reactions, with some defending him, while others, including the Ukrainian embassy, deemed his statements inappropriate. Kaliňák dismissed the criticism as hysteria and stood by his opinion, but the Ukrainian embassy has called for an official explanation from Slovakia’s Ministry of Justice.
Source: TASR
