Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico has renewed his criticism of the European Union’s approach toward Russia, saying he does not wish to see Moscow defeated but wants to prevent another large-scale war in Europe.
The war in Ukraine is “not our war,” he said in a television interview that aired on Sunday on public broadcaster STVR.
The interview was conducted to mark the annual commemoration of the 1944 Battle of the Dukla Pass, which marked the beginning of Slovakia’s liberation from Nazi rule by the Soviet Red Army.
The battle was the largest and bloodiest fought on what is now Slovakian territory during World War II, with Soviet forces suffering the heaviest losses.
Fico said it was wrong that more and more memorials to fallen Soviet soldiers were being removed, given their role in Slovakia’s liberation.
He expressed alarm by “how carelessly people are talking more about war than about peace today.”
At EU summits, he said, there is discussion about how to defeat Russia — a mindset he described as dangerous. “I don’t know whether these people are aware of what war really means. Perhaps someone should remind the public of the terrible suffering it caused back then,” Fico said.
He pledged that Slovakia would not be drawn into any “war adventure” while he remains prime minister.