Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico called for security guarantees for the Russian Federation during an unprecedented address on the Russian television station Rossiya 1, which serves as a mouthpiece for Vladimir Putin’s dictatorial regime.

“Just like Ukraine, Russia also needs its own security guarantees," Fico stated in a comment shared by Russian state media agency TASS and media in Central Europe, including Czech Television (ČT).  

Fico, whose left-right cabinet reoriented Slovak foreign policy from a staunch backer of Ukraine to a Kremlin-pleasing stance calling for peace negotiations, also claimed that the EU is worn out by the war in Ukraine.

“European Union is telling Ukrainians: here you have weapons, here you have money, fight, just do not bother us with it, we simply don’t want to have anything to do with that war anymore,” Fico claimed, causing an outcry among Slovak opposition politicians.

“Prime Minister Fico spoke on the Russian propagandist television. At home, his glued-together [coalition] is falling apart; healthcare is not a topic worth his premiership, but he can find time to serve Putin. A great shame!” chairman of the opposition leading Progressive Slovakia Michal Šimečka wrote on his Facebook social media page,

Šimečka was referring to the turmoil inside the ruling coalition where three of the legislators elected on the far right SNS list blocked a parliamentary session in order to strengthen their bargaining position.   

Fico has adopted Kremlin talking points, including spreading of hoaxes about the war in Ukraine, which helped him pave his way back to power in 2023, but appearing on Russian state-backed television is a new low in his political standards.

Michal Vašečka, sociologist and political scientist from the Bratislava Policy Institute, told ČT that Fico’s entry on Rossiya 1 builds “on the rhetoric of Robert Fico from the recent months and years,” and that “Fico at the same time surprised, because he spoke at one of the most significant channels of the Russian propaganda”.

Fico’s words in Slovak were nearly silenced by simultaneous translation to Russian, and the TV presenter Olga Skabeyeva, often referred to as “The Iron Doll of Russian Propaganda”, described the interview on her Telegram channel as a “first time on Russian Television! An exclusive interview with Nato and EU leader – Slovak premier Robert Fico, who survived an assassination attempt because of his stance on Ukraine.”

Vojtěch Boháč, editor-in-chief of the Czech Voxpot online outlet, which covers Russia and CIS developments and brought out the Czech translation of Fico's comments, wrote that Skabayeva "could not hold back her bemused smile", noting that "Fico in his effort to obtain an invitation to Moscow and demonstrate his sympathies towards its leader went even a bit further than what they are used to in Russia".  

During the interview, Fico reiterated his earlier comments that he would like to come to Moscow to take part in the state-backed celebrations of the end of World War II anniversary in May, saying he sees it as his "personal duty."

"Something is telling me that you will certainly obtain the invitation very, very soon," Skabayeva responded. 

The entry marks a busy week for Fico, who spoke on Rossiya 1 on the same day he was bound for a visit to China.  

"I am against the politics of Russophobia and Sinophobia, which is very frequent on the international level now," Fico said, adding that he is also against "the politics of forcing one correct and obligatory view", somethingwhich he accused the EU of in the past.