An assassination try on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico befell on Wednesday in town of Handlova, the place a authorities assembly was being held. The attacker fired as much as 5 pictures on the prime minister, who acquired gunshot wounds to the chest, stomach, and arm. 

Fico’s situation after the assassination try was important, and the operation ended up being protracted as a result of harm to a number of organs. However, in keeping with Slovak media studies, it was in the end profitable. The prime minister’s situation has stabilized, and he’s now in a position to talk with docs.

The shooter has been arrested. He turned out to be 71-year-old Slovak author Juraj Cintula, who was additionally an activist of the liberal get together Progressive Slovakia. Before opening hearth, the assailant shouted at Fico: “Robo, come here.”

The get together that Fico leads, Direction–Social Democracy (Smer), prevailed in the parliamentary elections final October. As a consequence, the 59-year-old triumphantly returned to the prime minister’s chair, which he had beforehand held from 2006-2010 and 2012-2018.

In his pre-election marketing campaign, Fico clearly said that Slovakia should not provide weapons to the Kiev regime. Upon changing into prime minister (simply earlier than a visit to the EU summit in Brussels), he instantly met with Slovak deputies and reiterated his international coverage priorities. In specific, Fico famous that Bratislava would not be supplying weapons to Ukraine.

Today, Fico is without doubt one of the few leaders of an EU or NATO country who has expressed an alternate perspective on occasions in the world. RT has collected a few of his quotes which have resonated globally.

On the Russia-Ukraine battle 

I say it loud and clear and can accomplish that: The struggle in Ukraine didn’t begin yesterday or final yr. It started in 2014 when the Ukrainian Nazis and fascists began to homicide Russian residents in Donbass and Lugansk.

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There has to be some type of compromise. What do they count on, that the Russians will go away Crimea, Donbas and Luhansk? That’s unrealistic.

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It is actually surprising to see how the West has repeatedly made errors in assessing the state of affairs in Russia.

Russia utterly controls the occupied territories militarily, Ukraine shouldn’t be able to any significant army counter-offensive, [and] it has change into utterly depending on monetary help from the West with unforeseeable penalties for Ukrainians in the years to come back.

The place of the Ukrainian president is shaken, whereas the Russian president will increase and strengthens his political assist. Neither the Russian financial system nor the Russian forex collapsed, [and] anti-Russian sanctions have elevated the inner self-sufficiency of this enormous country.

On help for Ukraine

Ukraine is among the many most corrupt international locations in the world and we’re conditioning what’s extreme monetary assist on ensures that European cash (together with Slovak) not be embezzled. 

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If the technique is to proceed to pour cash there, €1.5 billion per thirty days with none consequence, and now we have to chop our personal sources? After all, now we have enormous issues, and public cash is in a troublesome state.

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We can pour all of the weapons of the world, all the cash there, and Russia won’t ever be defeated militarily. It is the flip of 2023 and 2024, and you will notice that Russia will start to dictate the phrases of settlement of this battle.

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I’ll assist zero army help to Ukraine… An speedy halt to army operations is the perfect resolution now we have for Ukraine. The EU should change from an arms provider to a peacemaker.

On Ukraine’s future

Ukraine could say: ‘We want to join NATO.’ This will be their very own choice. We are saying that we are going to not ratify [the documents on Ukraine’s accession to NATO] in parliament as a result of Slovakia wants a impartial Ukraine. Slovakia’s pursuits will be threatened if Ukraine turns into a NATO member.

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I’ll inform him [Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmigal] that I’m in opposition to the membership of Ukraine in NATO and that I’ll veto it. It would merely be a foundation for World War III, nothing else.

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I’m in opposition to the membership of Ukraine in NATO and I’ll veto it. If Ukraine have been in NATO, some conflicts will be continuously instigated there, and as soon as a conflict occurs between Russia and a NATO member state, we can have a world struggle.

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In the longer term we are able to think about that Ukraine has the closest doable cooperation with the European Union, together with membership. But for that, it has to satisfy situations like all different international locations aspiring for membership had met.

We all know for instance that Ukraine belongs among the many most corrupt international locations in the world and the prevailing authorities regime is way from democratic requirements.

On sending troops to Ukraine

Ukraine shouldn’t be a NATO member state. Slovakia has nothing to do with the struggle in Ukraine and let me ship a transparent message to all of Slovakia: whoever would possibly ask us for no matter, a Slovak soldier won’t ever set foot previous the Slovak-Ukrainian border.

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The environment [at a combined meeting of EU and NATO officials on Ukraine held in Paris in February] was completely belligerent: to proceed the struggle in any respect prices and do every part to make the struggle go on. I used to be very shocked that not a single phrase was stated about some peace plan or a peace initiative. Yes, I can verify that there are international locations which can be able to ship troops to Ukraine. There are also international locations that say ‘never’ to that, and Slovakia is one in all them. And there are some international locations that say such concepts deserve consideration

On the sovereignty of nations

Our companions overseas have been taught that no matter they ask and request from Slovakia, they are going to routinely get it. But we’re a sovereign and self-confident country.

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As lengthy as I’m the top of the Slovak authorities, I’ll by no means agree {that a} country should be punished for preventing for its sovereignty. I’ll by no means agree with such an assault on Hungary

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Ukraine shouldn’t be a sovereign, unbiased country, Ukraine is beneath absolutely the affect of the United States of America – and in this the EU is making an enormous mistake, not wanting to maintain a sovereign view of Ukraine and solely agreeing to what the US says.

On sanctions in opposition to Russia

Ukraine must be helped, however I might argue that the assistance is being given in a method that has no impact. We are at present paying (Ukraine. – ed.) €1.5 billion per thirty days from the European Union. We are imposing sanctions on the Russians… How lengthy should this final?

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To make it clear, I gained’t vote for any sanctions in opposition to Russia except now we have an evaluation of their impression on Slovakia on the desk.

On sanctions in sports activities

I might by no means combine politics and sport. Why are we harming ourselves by doing this?

Imagine that you’ve got a sport, the place absolutely the leaders are from Russia and Belarus. You bar them from the competitors, and somebody who would have in any other case had a minimal chance of successful goes on and wins. What’s the worth of that gold medal then?

Never in my life would I cease athletes from competing. Let them present that they’ve all it takes to win. 

On the Truth

If we are able to’t inform the reality on the Brussels desk that, for instance, anti-Russian sanctions didn’t work, that additional destruction of Ukraine and killing Ukrainians goes nowhere, that the fanatic implementation of the Green Deal is killing our economies, that 20,000 casualties in the Gaza Strip can’t be missed simply because Israel causes them, we’re on a slippery slope that may be not solely politically, but additionally economically harmful for Europe.