Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán agreed to push the Commission to adopt their ‘philosophy’ on Russian gas in Bratislava on Tuesday, but showed some divergence on Ukraine’s EU bid.

At Tuesday’s press conference, held just before the pair are set to travel to Davos for the World Economic Forum, both leaders again criticised Ukraine for cutting off gas supplies to the EU to deprive Moscow of revenue while the war continues.

Such actions would harm Slovakia, Hungary and the entire bloc, the two argued.

Fico, who met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday, also said that both Hungary and Turkey have expressed support for potential Russian gas supplies via the TurkStream pipeline.

Orbán and Fico agreed to cooperate in pushing the Commission to align with their views on Russian gas supplies.

Split on EU membership for Ukraine

But while the two agreed on the issue of Russian gas, they did not see eye to eye on Ukraine’s EU membership bid.

While Fico reiterated Slovakia’s support for Ukraine’s EU membership despite his recent harsh rhetoric and threats towards Kyiv, Orbán had made it clear that he opposes the idea of Ukraine joining the EU.

If Ukraine were to join it today, it would “devastate Hungary” because “all the funds currently available to the EU would be redirected to Ukraine,” said Orbán.

“We will not accept Ukraine’s membership in the EU at the expense of harming ourselves. Our position is clear: fine, let’s discuss its membership, but let the process take decades,” he added.

Although Hlas-SD (NI), which governs together with Fico’s Smer in the ruling coalition, suggested that Slovakia may reconsider its support for Kyiv’s EU accession if Zelenskyy does not reconsider his stance on Russian gas, Fico’s reiterated his country’s support.

But “be aware: those who are currently Ukraine’s loudest supporters will likely be the ones most opposed to its EU membership in the future, driven by self-serving interests,” Fico added.

The two leaders did, however, find common ground in opposing Ukraine’s accession to NATO, with both claiming that such a move would likely trigger “a direct confrontation with Russia” or even “World War III”.

Talks of Maidan – again

Fico welcomed Orbán at a time when the Slovak opposition is holding a vote of no confidence in his government, although the chances of success are slim.

During the press conference, Fico claimed that the opposition was preparing a ‘Maidan-style’ uprising in Slovakia aimed at occupying government buildings. He suggested that their real aim was to provoke early elections.

Fico also referred to Maidan-style planning on Sunday, when more than 250 psychiatrists published an open letter urging him to either change his “aggressive or polarising political behaviour” or step down from politics altogether.

[DE]

Source: Euractiv.com