Slovakia and Czechia are clearly heading in separate directions on a range of key issues, including the war in Ukraine, progressive causes, and mass immigration. Now, Czech PM Petr Fiala is increasingly trying to ratchet up the pressure on the neighboring country, including a continued pause on intergovernmental diplomatic relations between the two nations.
“There is no reason to renew the Czech-Slovak intergovernmental negotiations, and there are no conditions for this,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated on Sunday in a debate show on public service Czech Television.
Petr Fiala sees the reason for this situation in the foreign policy activities of the Slovak government led by Robert Fico, citing the Slovak prime minister’s recent talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin as an example. Criticism of such activities, since they do not correspond to the interests of the Czech Republic, cannot, in his opinion, be qualified as interference in Slovak internal affairs.
“I believe that in this situation, with such Slovak foreign policy activity, the renewal of consultations would not be appropriate. For now, I see no reason for this, nor do I see any conditions for it,” Fiala said.
Petr Fiala’s government temporarily suspended Czech-Slovak intergovernmental talks in the spring of 2024 due to differences of opinion on key foreign policy issues, with Prague primarily criticizing the new Bratislava government’s policy on Ukraine.
The Czech prime minister explained that he and his government ministers often hold bilateral talks with their Slovak counterparts. The European Union summit in Brussels on Monday will provide an opportunity for another meeting between the Czech and Slovak prime ministers.
Petr Fiala has repeatedly rejected Robert Fico’s statements that Czech politicians and the Czech media are interfering in Slovakia’s internal affairs and described them as unfounded.
“I do not interfere in Slovakia’s internal affairs, and none of my colleagues do,” the prime minister said. He noted that before last year’s Slovak elections, the current Czech government — unlike former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who encouraged Slovaks to support Fico — did not make suggestions to Slovaks about whom to choose.
At the same time, Fiala pointed out that he has the right to comment on the Slovak government’s foreign policy activities that may harm the interests of the Czech Republic.
“I hear more criticism from Bratislava about Brussels than about Moscow, and this seems strange to me,” Fiala replied when asked whether he considered Robert Fico a pro-Russian politician.
The Slovak prime minister has foreign policy ideas that are “not in line with the security, strategic and economic interests of the Czech Republic,” noted Petr Fiala.
“I will repeat this to Robert Fico on Monday,” added the Czech prime minister.