Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
The pro-Russian former Slovak prime minister Robert Fico doubled down on his opposition to arming Ukraine after his party emerged the winner of Saturday’s election. Fico said Slovakia would continue to offer Ukraine humanitarian aid but “you know our opinion” on sending weapons. Slovakia hasn’t been a major supplier of military materiel compared with the US or other Nato members, and it isn’t yet certain that Fico will be able to form a coalition. But his unapologetic support for the Kremlin – he also opposes further sanctions on Russia – undermines Europe’s already fraying solidarity on Ukraine. A Fico-led coalition would leave Nato with two neighbouring East European members – Slovakia and Hungary – openly opposing unconditional support for Ukraine and supporting a negotiated truce. Opposition to arming Kyiv is also widespread in Poland, where progressives led by former President Donald Tusk have an uphill task in their efforts to unseat the Law and Justice party (PiS) in elections next month. More than a million Tusk supporters took to the streets of Warsaw and other cities yesterday, but in rural Poland the roots of the social conservatism that have kept the PiS in power since 2015 run deep.