Fico: “No one will send Slovak soldiers to fight Russia on the basis of a fabricated pretext”

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has stated that his government will not send soldiers to fight Russia if the justification for doing so is a manufactured pretext serving the interests of those stoking the conflict with Moscow.

He made the statement in a video address to citizens published on Facebook.

Fico had previously said that, in his view, there is a deliberate search underway for a pretext to trigger a major conflict between NATO and Russia. In his new address, he expanded on that position, speaking directly to those who, in his words, have an interest in provoking such a confrontation.

“If someone is interested in provoking a military conflict between NATO and Russia in order to satisfy their own national interests, they must bear responsibility for such a step themselves, rather than shifting it onto other NATO member states. Creating a pretext for starting a war is not a difficult thing to do. We are, however, mature enough to distinguish whether we are truly dealing with an armed attack by a non-NATO country on one or more member states of the North Atlantic Alliance, or something else entirely. As long as my government is in power, no one will send Slovak soldiers outside Slovakia to fight Russia or any other country on the basis of a fabricated pretext,” — Fico stated.

The Slovak prime minister also called for an end to “talking about false solidarity.” As an example of its absence within the EU, he cited the allies’ inability to reach agreement even on electricity prices, as well as the restoration of border controls at the internal borders of Schengen zone states.

According to Fico, anti-Russian rhetoric in the West is being used to distract attention from domestic problems.