Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico criticized the European Union’s new foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, and Council President António Costa for expressing support for Ukraine on behalf of the bloc on Monday.He said had he conveyed those sentiments in a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier in the day.“Neither members of the Commission nor the president of the European Council can permit themselves to make statements, in the name of the European Union, on which the European Union and the European Council have never agreed,” Fico told reporters regarding the call.
“They made statements that did not correspond to the conclusions of the European Union.”
The statements in question were made during a weekend trip to Kyiv by Kallas, Costa and Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, in which the trio expressed the EU’s support for Ukraine.The three politicians, who were recently confirmed in their new posts by the European Parliament, kicked off their mandates by visiting Ukraine, which has been defending itself against a full-scale invasion by Russian troops since February 2022.It’s not the first time Fico has publicly criticized Kallas. In a video posted on social media Nov. 30, he said the former Estonian prime minister “makes no secret of her clear orientation toward the United States and her open hatred of the Russian Federation.”MEPs from Fico’s ruling left-populist Smer (Direction) party voted against the new Commission last week — a move that puzzled critics who noted that in doing so, the MEPs were also opposing the appointment of Maroš Šefčovič, the long-serving Slovak commissioner that Smer itself had nominated.Fico said he had also shared with von der Leyen that his opinions on some issues differ from those of the European Commission, such as on sending military aid to Ukraine, and that he will not budge from his views. After taking office last year, the Slovak leader announced his government was halting the delivery of weapons to Ukraine.
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