"What is being paid?"

Great excitement over Fico’s visit to Putin in the Kremlin

(Bild: APA/AP/Sputnik/Artyom Geodakyan)

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico's surprise visit to Russian President Vladimir Putin has not only caused a stir and criticism in his own country. It has also increased tensions between Kiev and Bratislava.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi accused Fico of having personal motives for the trip and of being dependent on Moscow. Selenskyj wrote on the X platform (formerly Twitter) on Monday: "Why is this head of state so dependent on Moscow? What is he being paid and what is he paying with?" 

Fico himself had described his visit to Russia as a response to Zelenskyi's refusal to allow Russian gas to continue flowing through to Slovakia.

Controversial gas transit through Ukraine
Slovakia continues to receive Russian gas via pipelines despite Moscow's war of aggression against Ukraine. Ukraine recently announced that it would no longer extend the transit contract for Russian gas to its neighboring country Slovakia, among others, which expires at the end of the year.

Selenskyj wrote that Fico himself benefited from the Russian gas discount, but not his country. "Such discounts are not free - the payments to Russia are made by (giving up) sovereignty or through opaque schemes". He hinted that Fico was a security problem for Slovakia and Europe.

Fico (left) has long been considered pro-Russia - but with his visit to the Kremlin he has crossed red lines for many.(Bild: APA/AP/Sputnik/Artyom Geodakyan)

(Bild: APA/AP/Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov)

Protests in Bratislava
But there is also criticism in Slovakia itself: Several hundred people gathered in front of the government office in Bratislava for a protest rally. The rally was called by the initiative "Mier Ukrajine" (Peace to Ukraine), which in the past has been particularly active in support of arms deliveries to Kiev. The demonstrators waved the flags of Slovakia, Ukraine and the EU.

"We reject Prime Minister Fico's unsavory presentation of Slovakia to Putin as a Christmas present!" the protest call on Facebook read. The small liberal opposition party "Freedom and Solidarity" also considered a motion of censure in parliament against the head of government.