The Czech Republic and Slovakia, Europe’s two closest nations that used to be part of the same state, have found themselves locked in a scuffle, which was caused both by their starkly different takes on the Ukrainian conflict and the patronising attitude exhibited by Prague.
Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine has spurred some seismic shifts in international politics that result in quite unexpected geopolitical rifts. A late February meeting of the Visegrád Group states’ prime ministers revealed serious cracks developing in the important Central and Eastern European alliance. These were mostly caused by Hungary and Slovakia disagreeing with the Czech Republic’s and Poland’s intent to provide military aid to Ukraine.
A puzzled Donald Tusk, the prime minister of Poland, commented, ‘Today Budapest and Bratislava are paradoxically sending mixed signals when it comes to Putin and Russia. We had a similar experience with the Soviet Union whose tanks invaded Budapest, Warsaw and Bratislava. I cannot see a single reason why the countries of the region cannot be united in their resistance and their support of those who are fighting the regime that spurns our shared values.’
The Czech leadership was, too, seemingly bewildered over someone else’s refusal to shore up Ukraine. In early March, Prague cancelled a joint meeting of the Czech and Slovak cabinets in the wake of the Slovak diplomats’ amicable stance towards Russia.
The Czech officials were particularly outraged by the Slovak foreign minister Juraj Blanár’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. ‘There are some apparently significant discrepancies on some key foreign policy matters,’ said Petr Fiala, the Czech prime minister, explaining the reason for the cancellation of the intergovernmental talks with Slovakia.
But the Slovaks were quick to respond. Prime minister Robert Fico posted a video to his social media page where he blasted the Czech authorities’ decision. ‘The Czech government has decided to threaten us only because it is interested in supporting the Ukraine war, whereas the Slovak cabinet is willing to broach the topic of peace,’ said Fico.
Earlier, Robert Fico said that the Ukrainian armed conflict had started back in 2014 with ‘Ukrainian neo-Nazis going on a rampage’.
He believes the conflict has no military solution, hence the need to search for peaceful solutions, as the escalation of the current confrontation may lead to World War III.
Prague, on the contrary, is doing its utmost to escalate. Even prior to the UK and Poland, the Czech Republic was the first country to send its battle tanks to Ukraine. Petr Fiala has initiated an emergency procurement plan for 800,000 shells outside the EU intended for Kiev, and the implementation is already underway.
Clearly, the Czech and Slovak cabinets hold completely opposite views of the Russia–Ukraine standoff, and there was no conceivable way the two republics would not clash over it. However, the current flare-up may have to do with the upcoming presidential election in Slovakia slated for 23 March. The current polls point to a closely contested race between Fico’s fellow government coalition member Peter Pellegrini and the liberal Ivan Korčok.
The Czech media is now wondering if the country’s liberal government would like to endorse Korčok. This is a totally legitimate question given the marked deterioration in the countries’ relations after Robert Fico stepped up as the Slovak prime minister.
Should the presidency be won by Fico’s ally, it will further exacerbate the current crisis. In a somewhat patronising fashion, Prague is signalling to Slovaks that the only way they could restore their friendship with the Czech is by voting for the candidate hailed by Kiev as ‘pro-Ukrainian’.
Slovakia’s outgoing president Zuzana Čaputová is backing Korčok’s bid. Following in the Czech colleagues’ footsteps, she posted this to her social media: ‘When we start devaluing foreign policy, we are losing friends. I’m sorry this is what’s happening now. As president, I’ll keep trying to improve the relations between Slovakia and the Czech Republic.’ Čaputová went on to pressure Fico as she claimed the reforms proposed by the prime minister were ‘putting democracy to the test’, which may jeopardise Slovakia’s chance to receive payments from the EU.
Will Prague’s stance have a major impact on the outcome of the Slovak election? Not really.
First, there are some notable differences in the worldview of most Czechs and Slovaks. The latter have traditionally held a much better view of Russia than the Czechs.
No wonder the Slovak communist leader Gustáv Husák even suggested to Stalin that Slovakia join the USSR following World War II. The country’s support of Russia in the Ukrainian conflict is largely due to the Slovaks’ deep-rooted affinity for Russia.
Second, the Slovak liberals who were in power before Robert Fico’s return to the prime minister’s role have lost trust with much of the Slovak public due to a suite of unpopular economic and political steps. That is why Pellegrini, a social democrat, faces better odds of winning the presidency.
Finally, the pressure the Czechs are attempting to exert may lead to the opposite result where voters will be increasingly supporting the candidate that declines to do Prague’s bidding. Even though the two nations are not as openly antagonistic towards each other as, say, the Serbs and the Croats are, no one particularly likes it when their neighbour begins to patronise them.