“OK, come to Kyiv on Friday,” replied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Prime Minister Robert Fico’s provocative text, which arrogantly provoked him to such a reaction in an open letter.
Indeed, Fico published the status, presenting it as an open letter in which he lies head over heels and which is basically not an invitation to a meeting, but a propaganda pamphlet that the prime minister addressed to his voters and not to the Ukrainian party.
Logically, she had to consider him a provocation, a very unfortunate, perhaps even stupid provocation, and therefore we can consider Zelensky’s answer as the best possible. And at the same time very polite and matter-of-fact.
Only a few words were enough, and the essence is hidden in them.
At the beginning of October last year, Robert Fico visited Ukraine. They met with their partner Denys Shmyhaľ in Uzhhorod, which has been a refuge for thousands of refugees from the war-affected regions of the country since the beginning of the full-scale Russian offensive in Ukraine.
Although other European and world leaders arrived in Kyiv, Fico actually negotiated near the Slovak border, where it is significantly safer than in the Ukrainian capital.
One theory as to why he did not travel to Kiev is that he did not want to be confronted with the horrors of war. Despite the fact that in January last year he disputed that there was a war going on in the Ukrainian capital, claiming that there was “absolutely normal life”, the reality was that at the time Kiev was facing Russian shelling that hit civilian targets.
Apart from or following Fico’s vocabulary, according to information, the Ukrainian side was interested in showing him the true picture of the war.
However, looking into the face of war requires courage and strength.
Robert Fico was a political cynic and technocrat of power for thirty years. After the early elections, it was felt that he was taking many things personally. And that he wants revenge. That he avoids confrontations and that he cares about the big gestures from which he is based as a player.
That’s also why, when he doesn’t know how to manage the state, when the government is crumbling under his hands, when they can’t find a cure for the terrifying economic situation in Slovakia, he tries to cover it up with international gestures – almost always strongly polarizing and provocative.
However, when it comes to breaking bread, as with Volodymyr Zelensky’s answer, he withdraws and Tibor Gašpar says that the boss will not travel to Kyiv. Apparently it’s not possible.
Fico found a way, if we are to believe him, to get to Moscow by commercial line to meet Putin. That was possible. But to Kiev it is not possible?
Maybe he’s just afraid of reality. And maybe it’s just another gesture…
