Slovakia’s new president pledges to visit neighbours, stresses NATO’s key role

5 months ago 15

Slovakia’s new President, Peter Pellegrini, announced plans to visit all its neighbours and war-torn Ukraine in his first official interview on Sunday, where he also stressed the importance of NATO and the EU’s “protective umbrella” for the country’s security.

Pellegrini, a close ally of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, whose inauguration took place just a day earlier, spoke about his plans as president during a special debate on RTVS on Sunday.

“Slovakia is too small to be able to defend itself against possible aggression, which is why NATO gives us a protective umbrella that makes us feel safer. This is how it must remain in the future from a geopolitical point of view,” said Pellegrini.

During his presidential campaign, Pellegrini did not shy away from pro-Russian rhetoric, painting his rival and pro-EU diplomat Ivan Korčok as a “warmonger” who, if elected president, would send Slovak men to fight in Ukraine.

He also accused Czech President Petr Pavel and Prime Minister Petr Fiala of “supporting the killing in Ukraine” by sending weapons to Kyiv. When pressed, he also refused to guarantee that Slovakia would help Poland if Warsaw invoked NATO’s Article 5.

In the RTVS debate, Pellegrini also said he wanted to be “an active president who will not only react but proactively put issues on the table”.

He also said that the idea of a round table to which all leaders of the current opposition and coalition parties would be invited was “still valid”, but that for now they should wait to see how Fico’s state of health develops.

The idea of setting up a roundtable was first brought up by Pellegrini and then-president Zuzana Čaputová after the assassination attempt on Fico on 15 May as a “signal of reconciliation” in a polarised Slovak society.

While the opposition welcomed the idea, the coalition parties rejected it.

“If there is no calming down of the situation and an imaginary start of breaking down the walls between the two poles of society, we have a serious problem,” Pellegrini noted.

Although he did not elaborate, Pellegrini also said he was considering nominating current European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič for the post of commissioner. However, he intends to discuss the nomination at an informal lunch with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

(Natália Silenská | Euractiv.sk)