Slovakia's PM Fico intent on blocking Ukraine's NATO bid as 'it could spark WWIII'

The Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico will block Ukraine's membership in NATO, allegedly under the guise of "the beginning of the Third World War," he said in the InfoVojna podcast.

"We will not agree with the membership of Ukraine in NATO, because it will be the beginning of the Third World War <...> I believe that this will never happen. As long as I have the opportunity to influence the Slovak political scene, I will use the right to veto decisions regarding Ukraine's accession to the alliance," he stated.

Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine's foreign minister in 2014-2019, has commented on this and other similar cases. He denied the information that Ukraine is allegedly not accepted into NATO due to the categorical position of the United States and Germany, saying on LIGA Talk that NATO has "oddballs" that will definitely block Ukraine's North Atlantic integration.

Fico was the prime minister of the country twice (in 2006-2010 and in 2012-2018). Even during the previous term, he called the EU sanctions against Russia "ineffective", although he did vote for their introduction. Fico lost his post in 2018 after a series of corruption scandals, culminating in the murder of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his girlfriend.

On November 8, Fico blocked the proposal of the previous Cabinet to provide military aid to Ukraine worth 40.3 million euros.

On the eve of the summit of EU leaders in Brussels, he stated that he considers Ukraine "not ready" for joining the European Union, but assured that he will not block the start of negotiations on its European integration.