Until now, Slovakia has been one of the most active supporters of Ukraine and the first NATO member to provide fighter jets (MiG-29) to Kiev. However, the results of the Slovak elections began to affect support for Ukraine. Zuzana Čaputová, who is an active supporter of Kiev, prohibited the interim government from sending another batch of weapons to Ukraine.
Slovakia was the first NATO member to send fighter jets to Ukraine, but now it has suspended the deliveries, Euronews.hu reported .
The transitional cabinet, which will operate until the formation of the new Slovak government, does not have the authority to transfer weapons to Ukraine, as the party negotiating the formation of the government opposes this, the presidential office said in a statement
Čaputová did not change her political position on military support for Ukraine, but
"the approval of a military aid package by the outgoing government would create a dangerous precedent for the change of power after the future elections", the head of state said.
This time, the transitional government wanted to send ammunition to Ukraine and was preparing to train Ukrainian soldiers
Until now, Slovakia has been one of the most active supporters of Ukraine and the first NATO member to provide fighter jets (MiG-29) to Kiev. Compared to its own national income, Slovakia is the 5th strongest supporter of Ukraine, worth more than half a billion euros.
In the elections, former Prime Minister Robert Fico's party, Smer-SD (Irány - Social Democracy), won first place. Fico, entrusted with the formation of the government, started coalition negotiations, for which he received a two-week authorization from Čaputova. (The relationship between the two cannot be called rosy, as Fico previously called the liberal head of state an "American agent".)
In the elections, the liberal Progressive Slovakia, which won 18 percent of the vote, came in second, a group that advertises continuous support for Ukraine. During the campaign, however, the victorious Fico promised to stop military supplies and called the outbreak of war a provocation by "Ukrainian Nazis and fascists," which "dragged" Vladimir Putin into the occupation.
It is not yet known what will be the further fate of Slovak deliveries in the event of failure to form a government. According to the statement of the head of state, the shipments cannot be continued during another attempt to form a government.
This further increased doubts about the military assistance needed by Ukraine. The Kiev leadership needs continuous supplies from its allies, but in recent days and weeks, the continuation of these has become questionable in the United States and Poland.
Cover photo: Robert Fico (MTI/EPA/Stephanie Lecocq)
