Former Slovak chief Igor Matovič didn’t mince phrases in deploring an look by the nation’s present Prime Minister Robert Fico on Russia’s state-owned Rossiya 1 TV channel on Wednesday.
“What a horrible treacherous ferret,” stated Matovič, who served because the nation’s prime minister between 2020 and 2021, in a put up on Fb.
The professional-Russian Slovak chief was interviewed on “60 Minutes,” a political discuss present hosted by Russia’s sanctioned propagandist-in-chief, Olga Skabeyeva, referred to as the “iron doll of Putin TV” for her criticism of Russia’s political opposition and of the West. She beforehand dismissed a bloodbath in Bucha, Ukraine by Russian occupying forces as a “hoax” staged by the West to create “a faux model of Srebrenica,” a reference to an notorious chapter within the Nineties disintegration of Yugoslavia through which Serbian troops massacred 8,000 Muslim males and boys.
In his Rossiya 1 interview, Fico accused the West of “prolonging the conflict” by supporting Ukraine, described Western sanctions towards Russia as ineffective and stated he was prepared to barter with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The European Union tells Ukrainians: ‘Listed below are your weapons, right here is your cash, struggle, simply don’t hassle us, we now not need something to do with this conflict,’” Fico stated.
The Slovak chief added he want to go to Moscow for a celebration of the eightieth anniversary of the top of World Warfare II in Europe on Could 9 subsequent 12 months.
Fico’s prerecorded look on the propaganda channel sparked outrage amongst Slovak opposition politicians, MEPs and Ukrainian officers.
“Slovak Prime Minister Fico gave an interview to Russian propagandist Olga [Skabeyeva]. Let me remind you that [Skabeyeva] known as for the occupation of Ukraine, the killing of Ukrainians, and inciting hatred towards Ukraine. Fico can simply transfer to Moscow if he loves Russia a lot,” stated Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko in a put up on X.
British Ambassador to Slovakia Nigel Baker stated it was “regrettable” that Fico had agreed to be interviewed by Skabayeva.
“The declare that the West will not be all for peace is fake. We help #Zelenskyy’s peace plan. And the quickest solution to obtain peace is for [Russia] to depart the territory [of Ukraine],” he wrote on X.
Czech European Individuals’s Get together MEP Danuše Nerudová stated Fico had confirmed he was “a risk to Europe’s safety.”
Again at house, the chief of the opposition Progressive Slovakia get together, Michal Šimečka, known as Fico’s look “an infinite shame,” whereas an MP from the opposition Freedom and Solidarity get together, Juraj Krúpa, described it as “unprecedented.”
“Not even [Moscow-supporting Hungarian Prime Minister] Viktor Orbán would dare [do that],” Krúpa instructed a press convention.
