"We will never agree to a ban on gas transit from Russia"
Slovakia opposes a ban on Russian gas imports to the EU, the head of the committee for foreign affairs of the republic's National Assembly, Marian Carey, told Izvestia. The politician confirmed that Bratislava is ready to host talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, as well as possible discussions on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. In his opinion, the sanctions failed to change Russia's policy, instead they harm EU countries. The Slovak MP also said he understands Russia's demand for demilitarization and neutral status of Ukraine. On the possible introduction of NATO troops there, the future of the government of Robert Fitzo and new contacts between the authorities of Russia and Slovakia - in an exclusive interview of the politician to Izvestia.
"We need to sit at the same table, we need to talk."
- You were part of the delegation of the Slovak parliament, which arrived in Moscow on January 12. With whom of the Russian politicians have already had meetings? Have any agreements been reached?
- I am very happy that I can be in Moscow again. I studied here for two months in 1999 at the Pushkin Institute of Russian Language, and the last time I was in Moscow was in 2013. Moscow is a beautiful capital, a mighty one, and it has changed over the years. As for our program, we were in the State Duma, where we had talks with the Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, and we also visited the Federation Council, where we were received by Mrs. Valentina Matvienko. I had a bilateral meeting with Grigory Karasin, Chairman of the Committee on International Relations. The Deputy Speakers of Parliament, Andrei Danko and Tibor Gašpar, had a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sergey Lavrov. I am very happy that our conversations were open. Of course, we did not agree with everything or your country did not always agree, but, first of all, you have to sit at the same table, you have to talk. So I will criticize the decision of many politicians from the European Union who do not want to meet with Russian MPs at all.
- How do you assess the current state of bilateral relations between our countries? Is there a chance that they will develop?
- Of course, they can develop. We have historical ties: we are Slavic peoples. Our views are often very similar. We understand each other, because Slovak language, Czech language, Russian language are similar. We can develop education, science, culture and political ties. This year we will celebrate the end of the Second World War in Europe, or, in your opinion, the Great Patriotic War. Our Prime Minister Robert Fitzo will take part in the Victory Parade on May 9 in Moscow. I want to say that we in Slovakia remember that the Soviet Union made very great sacrifices, we are talking not only about soldiers, but also about ordinary people, citizens who died during the Second World War. And without these sacrifices, Nazism and fascism would never have been defeated. Slovakia was then liberated only by soldiers of the Red Army and the Romanian Royal Army. More than 63,000 Soviet soldiers are buried on Slovak territory. We value this contribution. We have a memorial cemetery in Bratislava, and 6,845 soldiers are buried there. There are people both in Europe and in Slovakia, "historians" who want to rewrite history. But history is just the way it is, you have to respect it.
- Do you plan to attend the Victory Parade in Moscow on May 9?
- I think it will not be possible on May 9, but we talked about it both with Mr. Volodin and Mr. Karasin, that after May 9 or before the holiday we could visit not only your capital, but also Volgograd or other cities where we could participate in the events of the celebration.
- Are return visits by Russian deputies to Slovakia or meetings in some other country possible?
- Not yet. You know, we have been members of the European Union since 2004. We have to abide by some rules. And now these rules are such that sanctions have been imposed against your deputies of the State Duma and the Federation Council. They cannot be in the EU states. I believe that very soon some peaceful talks will begin. It is necessary that not only politicians at the highest level talk between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, but also between Russia and the United States. Slovakia is ready to host such talks on its territory.
If the military conflict on the territory of Ukraine ends, I would be happy to invite your deputies to Slovakia. The last time this happened was in 2021, when Senators Grigory Karasin and Vyacheslav Timchenko came to Slovakia to celebrate our national holiday - the Slovak National Uprising.
Marian Carey is the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic. He has been a member of parliament since 2012, a member of the "Course - Social Democracy" party.
- Do you see potential for developing relations in the spheres of sports or culture?
- I always criticize when sports and culture are dragged into politics. I really dislike the sanctions against your athletes. I have always criticized the decision to ban Russian athletes from participating in the World Championships or the Olympic Games. I'll tell you an example from Slovakia. Russian singer Anna Netrebko will be performing here in a few months, and there are very big protests about this. At the same time, Ms. Netrebko lives in Vienna. There is a movement in Europe that is against everything Russian. I don't like that very much. Therefore, that culture and sports are not politics.
"I will never agree with the bans on speaking Russian."
- How do you feel about anti-Russian sanctions, about the possible expansion of these restrictions? What is Slovakia's position on this issue?
- In the past, we have seen the violation of international law because of the unilateral actions of some states, for example the United States of America, when they came to Iraq. They said that Saddam Hussein had some weapons that were very dangerous to the world. Nothing of that kind was found, but Iraq was bombed. They also bombed the former territory of Yugoslavia without a UN mandate. Remember how the state of Kosovo emerged. That was also a violation of international law. Robert Fitzo, our political party and Slovakia in general will never recognize Kosovo. But there are many states that did not criticize but recognized Kosovo. And these politicians are now criticizing Russia.
I will say very openly that in 2022 there was aggression by the Russian Federation, in my eyes it is also a violation of international law. But that's one side of it. On the other side, I know that this war did not start in 2022. We have to go back to 2013-2014, when Maidan took place, in my eyes it was a coup d'état. President Yanukovych had to leave Ukraine to save his life. Then several laws were passed in Ukraine, in the Verkhovna Rada, against people who speak Russian. That being said, more people in Ukraine spoke Russian than Ukrainian. I will never agree with bans on speaking Russian as an official language or studying in Russian.
We talked a lot with Mr. Karasin about Russia's goals, the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. You will never be satisfied if Ukraine became a member of NATO. I will never vote for Ukraine to become a NATO member either. But as far as denazification is concerned, the problem is that not all people in Ukraine are on President Zelensky's side, they are not on the side of the neo-Nazis Bandera, Shukhevych, so I don't really agree with that. I think there's a very small number of people who support Bandera or Shukhevych.
- Now the European Union is discussing a complete ban on Russian gas supplies via pipelines and LNG. Is it possible that Slovakia will block this decision?
- You know, the first time we had the so-called gas crisis was in 2009. Ukraine was also to blame then. It did not pay Russia money for the gas it consumed. And then it started stealing gas that was in transit to Slovakia and the rest of Europe. What happened? Russia stopped supplying gas to Europe. And what did Slovakia do? To prevent Ukrainian ordinary people from dying of frost, we started reverse gas supplies to Ukraine. We had agreements between Russia and Slovakia that gas supplies would continue through Ukraine. Our Prime Minister Fitzo and the Ukrainian Prime Minister Shmygal also agreed beforehand. President Zelensky decided that this was not possible, and from January 1 of this year the deliveries were terminated. This is very hard for Slovakia, because we need gas from Russia.
We can buy, of course, gas from the rest of the world, from other countries. But we can buy Russian gas cheaper than from other countries. And every politician who thinks rationally would tell you that you should buy cheap gas. I don't like, for example, how the European Union or the European Commission treats Slovakia now. They are not on Slovakia's side, they have not said anything definite. We wanted some negotiations to start in Brussels, where not only Slovakia and the EU, but also Ukraine would participate. But the negotiations took place without Ukraine's participation.
- Among the 10 countries that propose to ban gas imports from Russia are Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic States, among others. What position can Slovakia take on the issue of a complete ban on gas supplies from Russia?
- We will never agree to the end of gas transit from Russia to Europe. We, Slovakia, are in a difficult position because we are landlocked. We are inside Europe. And this is a problem for Slovakia. We hope that gas transit through Ukraine will resume. And if it doesn't? Our Prime Minister Fitzo said that the response to Ukraine's actions could be to cut off humanitarian aid or we could use the so-called veto in the European Union. Anything is possible.
- How do you assess the effectiveness of anti-Russian sanctions?
- You know, all members of the European Union and the United States are ready to introduce new sanctions against Russia. They say that these sanctions bring some results, but I don't see Russia changing any of its steps. In my opinion, these restrictions bring nothing. They harm the economy of the European Union.
"We are ready to accept negotiations on Ukraine on the territory of Slovakia"
- What do you see as the prerequisites for the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict? Are there any conditions for that now?
- Already last year there were some kind of peace talks at a conference in Switzerland. But your country did not participate in it. Therefore, it is impossible to talk about any concrete outcomes and agreements without the participation of both Ukraine and Russia. I hope that this year such a process will take place. I believe in the newly elected US President Donald Trump, who before the election said that he would end this conflict in 24 hours. Of course, this is impossible, but it was symbolic during the election campaign. I think President Putin wants to end this conflict. Slovakia is a small country, a small state, but we are ready to accept such negotiations on Slovak territory.
- Recently in NATO, the discussion about the possible deployment of the so-called peacekeeping forces in Ukraine has also intensified. What is your position on this issue?
- I have not yet spoken to anyone from our state or ministry about this issue, but if both sides of the conflict were in agreement, I would not be against it. But we need to talk first of all with Russia and Ukraine. To talk about what is needed for the war to end, for there to be peace, for Russia not to feel threatened by the United States and the European Union. What needs to be done to make all the states happy? It's a hard process. In my opinion, Russia will never agree that soldiers [of NATO countries. - Izvestia] will come to the territory of Ukraine. But many European politicians want NATO states to be participants in this conflict. We have always criticized this. If this happens, it will mean the beginning of the Third World War, and we in Slovakia do not want that.
"In the media they write that our delegation are collaborators, we are allegedly traitors to the homeland"
- Is Slovakia ready for cooperation with BRICS?
- Not yet. But Prime Minister Fitzo says that the Slovak Republic's foreign policy is open to cooperation with everyone, not just the European Union and the United States. He recently paid an official visit to China and was received by leader Xi Jinping. He was also in Brazil and South Korea. Then he has Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. He wants to go to Vietnam. I think this is a good policy for a small country like Slovakia. We should be friends with everybody, we should trade with everybody. Why not? But not all EU politicians, Slovak politicians, who are now in the opposition, like it, they have different views, they criticize our prime minister very harshly for this.
- The Slovak opposition even put forward a vote of no confidence in Mr. Fico. In your opinion, what are the prospects for this motion and why does it take such a position?
- You know, the media write that our delegation are collaborators, we are allegedly traitors to the homeland. We are a democratic country, and journalists can write about what they want. But we have problems in the coalition. At the birth of the coalition there were heavy negotiations. There are 150 deputies in the Slovak parliament, the government is supported by 79 MPs. That's how it was at the beginning. Well, now some MPs are not on the side of the government, not on the side of the opposition. Now we have about 76 deputies. So the opposition, of course, wants the government led by Fitzo to resign, to have early elections. And now they're criticizing Prime Minister Fitzo for coming to Moscow, for meeting with President Putin.
- Given the advantage of the ruling coalition, they have no chance, right?
- In politics, you can never say that something is impossible. Anything is possible at this time. I hope they don't have the 76 votes they need to end the Slovak government's term.
