Vienna Germany hesitated for a long time about heavy weapons for Ukraine, but the Bundestag has now approved an application by the traffic light government and the Union for Heavy Weapons. More active support for Ukraine has recently come more from the USA and Great Britain – and from the east of the EU: Arms are not only supplied by the Poles and Baltics, who have been representatives of a resolute line towards Russia for years, but also by the Czech Republic and the Slovakia.
Poland, for example, said this week that it had supplied Ukraine with tanks, without giving any details. Prague caused a stir in early April when several dozen T-72 tanks were delivered to Kyiv. Shortly thereafter, Slovakia handed over its S-300 anti-aircraft system to the neighboring country, having received a Patriot battery operated by American troops for its own defense.
During their public appearances, government politicians from the Eastern European countries have made it clear that they see aid for Ukraine as a contribution to strengthening their own security. “If Ukraine falls, Putin will carry on,” said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky in a CNN interview.
“Russia occupied us back in 1968. We don’t want that to happen again.” The countries share the fear of a domino effect with many other former members of the Eastern bloc, who today find themselves as NATO frontline states.
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However, the example of the Czech Republic and Slovakia also shows that it took the full brutality of a total invasion to transform concerns into resolute politics. Poland already drew the conclusion from the 2008 war in Georgia and the annexation of Crimea six years later that Russia had to be contained militarily. Hungary still sees things differently today and has even increased its dependence on Moscow since 2014, especially in the energy sector.
“If Ukraine falls, Putin will carry on,” said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky.
(Photo: IMAGO/CTK Photo)
The Czech Republic and Slovakia reacted differently at the time. There have always been key foreign politicians in Prague who viewed Ukraine as the most important partner in Eastern Europe. This included arms deliveries at an early stage.
At the same time, Milos Zeman is a man in the presidency who made no secret of his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Weak governments dependent on him repeatedly maneuvered between commitment to the West and friendly gestures to the East.
The turning point was the revelations about Russian acts of sabotage and espionage activities in the Czech Republic, which led to the victory of a decidedly pro-Western coalition in 2021. Zeman is also in poor health and discredited by the Russian invasion. “Putin is a madman,” declared the president in February, saying he was wrong about him.
A turning point in Czech foreign policy
The turning point in Czech foreign policy has meant that the country has even been negotiating a defense agreement with the USA since last week, which could lead to the stationing of foreign troops. In contrast to 24 NATO countries, Prague had previously refused to take such a step.
A major reason is that Czechs, like Slovaks, are among the most NATO-skeptical Europeans. The ratification of a similar defense agreement by the government in Bratislava at the beginning of the year was accompanied by protests and heated arguments in parliament.
The leader of the resistance is Robert Fico, who opposed Western sanctions against Russia even when he was prime minister. Similar to Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, he presents himself as a peace politician and describes military aid to Ukraine as irresponsible interference in an external conflict.
Slovakia’s hard line towards Russia seems fragile
The Slovak united front behind the hard line towards Russia is correspondingly more fragile. Its most important protagonist is Prime Minister Eduard Heger, who actually took office last year as a stopgap.
It is true that Heger enjoys the highest trust ratings of all politicians in the country due to his attitude to the Ukraine war. However, his populist Olano party is difficult to locate ideologically, and his governing coalition is weak and heterogeneous.
After all, they are united in the fight against Fico and his allies, which is being fought with tough drums. It is unclear what role the judiciary plays in this: Last week, confidants of the former head of government were arrested on charges of discrediting dignitaries. Fico still protects his parliamentary immunity. The government also banned a number of media channels classified as pro-Russian.
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The opposition parties still lead in the polls. Should the government fall, the decidedly pro-Western course might also be up for grabs. In any case, there is potential for conflict, also economically.
Inflation in March was more than ten percent, the highest it has been since the turn of the millennium. Slovakia also remains heavily dependent on Russian gas and oil. In addition, more than 350,000 Ukrainian refugees have poured into the country so far, whose integration ties up considerable resources.
Pragmatism versus neo-idealism
Hungary’s opportunism in Russia policy, which is shaped by economic interests, thus remains a realistic alternative, at least for Slovakia, to the new “geopolitical neo-idealism” that observers in East-Central Europe see on the rise.
The tension between the two approaches is also behind the cancellation of the meeting of the Visegrad group of states at the end of March: At the time, Orban had to listen to heavy criticism not only from the Czech Republic but also from Poland, where a government that is actually politically close to him is in power.
The Slovaks, on the other hand, remained silent – another indication that people in Bratislava are not entirely comfortable in their own skin. If the country wants to stay on course, it needs economic and military encouragement from the major Western players.
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