Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico is a serious statesman, who does not give a damn about what bellicose European “repeat after me” politicians say about his visit to Moscow to mark Victory Day over the Nazis. He chuckled when Russian reporters told him, after he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, that no other European leader would do what he had just done. “There are always a few ‘black sheep’ in the European Union family, and I belong to that herd,” Fico replied. “I am opposed to a single mandatory viewpoint. I think this approach is very wrong, and I often express opinions that do not align with this one `correct’ political viewpoint that we are supposed to uphold….
“The main reason I am here is that it is an indisputable historical fact that it was the peoples of the former Soviet Union, and particularly those of today’s Russian Federation, who paid the highest price in the fight against fascism and in World War II,” he declared. He recalled that there were “tens of thousands of young people” who died in the battles to defeat fascism—young people who were only 18, 19, 20 years old.
To not acknowledge that is “a denial of history…. I try to show respect to everyone who contributed to the fall of fascism,” he added. Fico reported that he intends to go to Normandy for the anniversary of the opening of the Second Front, and the day before going to Moscow he had visited the Dachau concentration camp in Germany, where thousands of Red Army members had been executed, “just in that one place.”
Question: In Europe, who even says such things?
His answer: “Better one than none. I have no reason, neither at my age nor given everything I’ve been through, to change history that cannot be undone. And I am all the more convinced of my views, because two years ago they wanted to shoot me in Slovakia, and not because I stole someone’s wife, but because of my clear stances and views—my political views. That’s why. So believe me, I had absolutely no problem deciding to come here to Moscow for these celebrations….
“Despite the critical and crisis-ridden atmosphere in Europe, I am a politician who prefers dialogue over strong words; I care about normal, friendly, and standard relations between the Russian Federation and the Slovak Republic.”
That policy applies equally to relations with all of Slovakia’s neighbors. Asked about Hungary’s new Prime Minister Péter Magyar, Fico said he is looking forward to meeting and working with him just as he had with Viktor Orbán; “in Slovakia, we say that having a bad neighbor is worse than having your house burn down.”
Brussels may deny it, but Fico made clear he is not the sole “black sheep” in the EU. He reported that when he meets with Putin, he “will convey some messages, because several European politicians have taken an interest in this trip.”