Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Saturday (20 January) alleged neighbouring Ukraine was not a sovereign nation but was under the absolute control of the United States, in embrace of a Russian conspiracy theory.

The populist politician, who is against military aid to the war-torn country and opposes sanctions against Russia, also reiterated his opposition to Ukraine’s bid to join NATO.

“Ukraine is not an independent and sovereign country,” Fico told public broadcaster RTVS. “Ukraine is under the total influence and control of the United States.”

Slovakia is a member of both NATO and the European Union.

Fico is due to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal on Wednesday in the city of Uzhhorod, western Ukraine, on the border with Slovakia.

“I will tell him that I am against the membership of Ukraine in NATO and that I will veto it,” Fico said.

    • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      It usually goes hand in hand with the populists. Sadly there’s so many of them popping up in European politics, it’s a plague.

    • theotherverion@lemmynsfw.com
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      8 months ago

      He was very correct. Fico’s best friend - Robert Kalinak stole 12 million euros in 2012 only. It was found that he had this amount of money purely in cash and argued that 2012 was “era of cash”