The Czech Republic is attempting to maintain its close ties with Slovakia to maintain Bratislava’s support for Ukraine, despite Slovakia’s new Prime Minister, Robert Fico, being an ally of Hungary’s pro-Russian leader Viktor Orban. The two countries have historically maintained close ties, with the Slovak and Czech cabinets holding joint meetings – and the first official visits of presidents, prime ministers, and ministers is always to the capital of the other country. However, the recent election of Fico and his national-conservative Smer party raises questions about whether relations between Prague and Bratislava will return to their Meciar era (a period of Slovakian isolation during the 1990s), or if Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban will manage to get the new Slovak government on his side.
The main issue at stake is support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. The Czech Republic has been one of Ukraine’s greatest supporters in terms of arms deliveries and financial and humanitarian support whereas one of Smer’s party’s election slogans was, „No more bullets for Ukraine.”
The refusal to send aid to Ukraine has not been followed up by many deeds, however, not least due to diplomatic pressure from the Czech Republic.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala is also trying to keep Fico and the government in Bratislava close. They met at the EU summit in Brussels in October 2023, and agreed that Fico would come to Prague as soon as possible for his traditional first trip abroad as PM. However, the biggest stumbling block is Fico’s insistence that he be received by Czech President Petr Pavel, who is staunchly pro-Ukraine. Both governments are currently negotiating a public declaration for Fico on support for Kyiv.
In other areas, Prague is trying to diplomatically drive a wedge between Fico and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The Czech government rejected Fico’s request to call a summit of the Visegrad Group’s prime and foreign ministers, aiming to persuade the V4 states to jointly reject the EU migration package. Experts assume that if Tusk becomes Polish PM, Poland and the Czech Republic will join forces and put pressure on Fico and isolate Orban within the Visegrad Group.