Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico has stated that his country would not support Ukraine’s membership in NATO as long as he remains in office. He warned that allowing Ukraine to join the US-led military alliance could lead to a new world war.
In an interview with broadcaster STVR on Sunday, Fico said, “As long as I am the prime minister of the Slovak Republic, I will lead the legislators, whom I have control over as a party chairman, to never agree to Ukraine’s membership in NATO,” He added, “Ukraine’s entry into NATO would serve as a good basis for a third world war.”
Fico, a long-standing critic of Western military and financial assistance to Ukraine, has emphasized that the conflict should be resolved through diplomatic channels. He has repeatedly cautioned against escalating tensions with Moscow.
For any new country to join NATO, all 32 existing members must approve the accession, with each national parliament voting on the candidacy.
In September 2022, Kiev formally applied to join NATO, citing the ongoing conflict with Russia. While many Western countries have publicly supported Ukraine’s aspirations, they have not provided a concrete roadmap or timeline for accession. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky acknowledged in July that “we will not be in NATO until the war is over in Ukraine.”
Russia sees NATO’s eastward expansion as a security threat and has cited Ukraine’s cooperation with the alliance as a primary reason for the conflict.
Last month, President Vladimir Putin warned that using Western-supplied longer-range weapons to strike deep inside Russia would be considered “direct involvement” of NATO in the fighting.