After Slovakian PM Robert Fico met with China’s President Xi Jinping, Oct. 3, he posted a video message welcoming China’s diplomatic efforts on the Ukraine crisis, and saying: “We share the same opinion that it is impossible to immediately end the fighting as long as Ukraine continues to be militarily and financially supported by the West.” Fico said that Slovakia would join the September effort of China and Brazil, the Friends of Peace platform. Further, he warned that prolonging the tensions between Russia and NATO heightens the risk of nuclear war. And to his Western critics, he countered: “It were the Western politicians who, in April 2022, shortly after the outbreak of the conflict, did everything they could in order not to have a realistic peace agreement signed.”
During the UN General Assembly in New York Sept 20-30, China, Brazil and some other nations agreed to create the “Friends of Peace” platform, within which they plan to promote a peaceful settlement of the “Ukraine crisis.” Ukrainska Pravda reported that the exact number of participants in the initiative is currently unclear, but during its presentation, 13 countries joined with China and Brazil in announcing their participation, including Kazakhstan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Hungary.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Fico, calling this visit “the most important trip of the year” and joined by cabinet members and 80 businessmen, continued on his six-day visit in China. On Oct. 31, Fico met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, and then Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi and Fico discussed the elevation of their two nations’ relations to a strategic partnership, and issued a joint statement the next day on the [Establishment of a Strategic Partnership]( http://us.china-embassy.gov.cn/eng/zgyw/202411/t20241101_11520047.htm), as reported by EIR.News
Simultaneously, Fico’s Foreign Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Juraj Blanar met with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, in order to deepen the cooperation. Blanar asserted that Slovakia adheres to the one-China policy, and the two discussed supporting the China-Brazil peace initiative. Today, Fico and his team are visiting businesses in Hefei, located in the central part of Anhui Province in East China, to tour the production facilities of an electric vehicle battery component manufacturing company.
For his last day in China, at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Fico will be an invited national leader guest to the Nov. 5-10 seventh China International Import Expo (CIIE). The annual trade fair, held in Shanghai, serves as a platform for countries and regions to display their development achievements. It is anticipated that 152 countries, regions and international organizations will participate. Fico’s neighbor, Serbia’s Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević will also attend as an invited guest national leader. Fico, along with Hungary’s Viktor Orban, and in his own way, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic, are attempting to escape the bonds of a collapsing Europe and to save their countries by developing relations with China and the Global South.
