Czecho-Slovakian ties strained over differing views on Russia's war, says Slovak PM Fico

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico commented on the Czech Republic's decision to pause intergovernmental consultations with Slovakia.

Source: European Pravda, citing Aktuality

Details: The Slovak Prime Minister believes that Czechia has jeopardised its relations with Slovakia.

Fico says that the reason for this is the differing perspectives of Prague and Bratislava on Russia's war against Ukraine. 

"We note that the Czech government has decided to jeopardise them merely because it is interested in supporting the war in Ukraine, while the Slovak government openly advocates for peace. Your decision will not affect our sovereign Slovak foreign policy," added the Prime Minister. 

Fico mentioned that the Czech government is welcome to conduct diplomacy in Slovakia anytime, and "we will not burden our political relations with differing views that have nothing to do with Slovak-Czech coexistence."

Background:

• On 6 March, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala announced that Czech-Slovak intergovernmental consultations would not take place in the coming weeks or months, as Prague does not consider them expedient due to "significant differences."
• Czechia and the new government in Slovakia differ regarding foreign policy matters, particularly the war in Ukraine. For example, on the second anniversary of the full-scale war, Fico stated that the war started "with the rampage of Ukrainian neo-Nazis."
• In addition, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, Juraj Blanár, met and held talks with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, at a diplomatic forum in Antalya, Türkiye. Their meeting was hailed by Fico.

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