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PM Robert Fico has achieved what no one before him has in Brussels

Ministry of Defence of The Slovak Republic

07.03.2025

A remarkable diplomatic success for Slovakia

Reflecting on PM Robert Fico's feat of diplomacy at the special European Council (EC) summit on Thursday (6 March 2025) in Brussels, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Robert Kaliňák emphasised: "At Thursday's summit, PM Robert Fico acted with millimetre-precise accuracy and 100% in alignment with Slovakia's interests and the mandate from the SVK Parliamentary European Affairs Committee. The negotiated position represents a huge success for Slovakia, because it is rare for complex European Council conclusions to incorporate an individual mention of one specific country. Never before have former governments and ministers - whether Mr Korčok, Mr Káčer or others - managed to pull off such a "Hussar-like" feat."

Mr Robert Kaliňák went on to say: "Looking at news coverage of the summit by foreign media which have reported positively on Slovakia's results, it is shocking how some Slovak media outlets have covered the event and how grossly they have misled the SVK public. If their "guaranteed" statements on Slovakia's isolation in the EU were true, would the European Council have paid so much attention to our country? Most probably not."

Yesterday's European Council summit was hosted in Brussels - with PM Robert Fico in attendance - where Slovakia strengthened its national positions that confirm our country's foreign policy anchorage and that follow on from the SVK Parliamentary European Affairs Committee's mandate. The summit addressed two key issues that directly impact on the SVK defence sector: the current situation in Ukraine and efforts to bolster the EU's defence capability. Before flying to Brussels, PM Robert Fico asked for and received the mandate from the SVK Parliamentary European Affairs Committee to support both areas of interest, provided that the EC's conclusions on Ukraine include a mention of Ukraine's gas transit to Slovakia.

"The European Council's statement is the strongest mandate that Slovakia could have received. It is an acknowledgement that the European Council identifies with Robert Fico's policy, which he has been pursuing since 2023. Based on this mandate, we are keeping the pressure up on Ukraine to reopen gas transit across its territory to Slovakia. The European Commission has stated that it respects the concerns Slovakia has consistently been drawing attention to, while recognising that these are legitimate concerns which threaten all of us," DPM and MINDEF Robert Kaliňák added.

The second part of the EC summit was devoted to plans to spend more on defence. "Yesterday, the Slovak Republic did not commit to any financial or military assistance to Ukraine. But if we want other countries to respect our position that we have ceased our military assistance to Ukraine, let us equally respect other countries and their stance to continue with it. We are not changing our position - our position remains one of supporting Ukraine with humanitarian and non-lethal aid," Mr Robert Kaliňák said.

He also noted that the MOD welcomes the possibility to allow for more flexible use of European funds for dual-use projects. Consistent with the SVK Government Manifesto, this concerns useful projects with dual civilian and military use, for example, the military hospital in Prešov, which is already in the process of being built, or other infrastructure projects under preparation.