Slovakian President's Office Explains Why It Is Withholding Military Aid to Ukraine

The Office of the President of Slovakia, Zuzana Čaputová, has explained what her spokesman meant when he said that the president did not support the delivery of a new package of military aid to Ukraine due to a change in the government that is likely to oppose the provision of aid to Ukraine. Čaputová is currently conducting consultations.

"The current outgoing Slovakian government has constitutionally limited powers. The political parties that are currently negotiating the possible formation of a government are opposed to the provision of military aid to Ukraine," said Jana Kobzová, Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of the Slovak Republic, in an interview with European Pravda.

For this reason, President Čaputová believes that the approval of a military aid package by the current outgoing government would create a risky precedent for a change of power after any future elections, the spokeswoman emphasised.

"President Čaputová is holding consultations with all political leaders regarding the formation of the future government and will continue to support the provision of military aid to Ukraine by any government that will have full powers," Kobzová said.

At the same time, Kobzová emphasised that the military aid provided by Slovakia to Ukraine is the largest that the country has ever provided, and per person, is one of the largest provided by any country.

"President Čaputová has been a strong supporter of such aid from the very beginning and has communicated with the government regarding its support, including after President Zelenskyy's recent visit to Slovakia in July," Kobzová said.

On 4 October, the media in Slovakia reported that its Ministry of Defence is considering the possibility of providing Ukraine with another military aid package. It could have been delivered during the presidency of the technocratic government of Ľudovít Ódor, but President Čaputová opposed that plan.

Čaputová’s spokesman Martin Strižinec told Dennik N that she "agreed with the Prime Minister that the results of democratic elections had to be respected". The election winners, Smer-SD, had promised voters "not to give a single bullet" to Ukraine.

Robert Fico's anti-Ukrainian party won the elections in Slovakia and on Monday, he was given two weeks to form a government.

Fico had previously declared his intention to stop military and political support for Ukraine. He also said that it was "illusory" to talk about Ukraine joining the EU at the moment and claimed that Nazism is "tolerated" in Ukraine.