Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico stated that his country will not fulfill its obligations under Article 5 of NATO and will not participate in defending allies in the event of a Russian attack.
During a speech delivered in front of students and medical staff in the city of Prešov, Fico publicly expressed his reluctance to adhere to the obligations set out in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which stipulates a collective military response by NATO in the event of an attack on one of its members, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda.
"Can you imagine, ladies and gentlemen, that Article 5 of the NATO treaty would be invoked? Can anyone imagine this? Can anyone imagine that we would be told: prepare 5,000 soldiers, or 10,000, and they will go somewhere to fight? And we won't even know who we are fighting, why, or for what," he said.
"I do not want Slovakia to be part of any military conflict because of that Article 5. As Prime Minister, I will do everything possible to ensure that Slovakia will never be drawn into a military conflict," Fico added.
He did not mention Russia at all as an aggressor state or as a source of military threat to Europe. Instead, he accused European leaders of using "warlike rhetoric" and behaved as if he did not understand against whom NATO should defend itself, notes the Ukrainian publication.
"It seems... that sometimes there is a tendency to replace the inability to solve problems such as illegal migration, competitiveness, and high energy prices with these warlike discussions: let's fight. For God's sake, who do we want to fight? With whom?" the Slovak Prime Minister affirmed.
After returning to the position of Prime Minister of Slovakia in the fall of 2023, Robert Fico immediately halted military aid to Ukraine and began making frequent anti-Ukrainian statements, while also justifying the Russian invasion.
Throughout the years 2024-2025, Fico consistently opposed Ukraine's accession to NATO and threatened to block the process through veto. He argued that Ukraine's accession to NATO would represent a direct path to a Third World War.
In June 2026, ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara in July, Fico firmly opposed the continuation of extensive financial and military support for Ukraine.
T.D.