New Slovak government rejects $43 million military aid package for Ukraine.
Slovakia's newly-appointed government has rejected delivering the 40.3 million euro (£43.2 million) military aid package for Ukraine proposed by its predecessor, Slovak media reported on Nov.
8. Robert Fico's SMER party won the parliamentary elections on Sept.
30 on a pro-Russian, populist platform. One of his key campaign promises was to immediately end all military aid to Ukraine.
By Oct.
11, the party had formed a coalition government with left-wing Hlas party and the ultra-nationalist Slovak National Party. Slovak President Zuzana Caputova could have approved the new military aid package before Fico officially entered office, but reportedly declined on the basis that it would disrespect the result of the elections, according to Slovak media. The package intended for Ukraine included over 5,000 piece of 125mm cannon ammunition, 4 million rounds of small arms ammunition, 140 KUB air defense rockets, and 1,200 mines.
The Slovak government will help Ukraine with humanitarian aid, "not militarily," Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok, who represents the Hlas party, said on Facebook. "We want peace, not war," the minister said. Media reports at the end of October already suggested that Prime Minister Robert Fico would no longer send arms to Ukraine and would also promote this stance on a European level.
Under its previous government, Slovakia provided Ukraine with extensive humanitarian and military assistance, including artillery, fighter jets, and other support. Fico said on Nov.
6, however, that his government will not prevent arms sales from Slovak companies to Ukraine. "If some company wants to produce arms and export them somewhere, nobody is going to prevent that, of course," Fico said.
Opinion: Why the Polish elections are good news for Ukraine
The story around the Polish parliamentary elections earlier this month is one of a country at a crossroads.
It was said that these were the most important elections since 1989, as a further Law and Justice (PiS) government would have cemented an increasingly illiberal system.
In Western media outlet...
