A few days ago, Slovakia received an offer to join US President Donald Trump’s Peace Council. Trump introduced the Peace Council on Thursday (January 22) at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He invited approximately 60 countries to it, but the exact composition is still unknown. Among others, they include Russia, China, the European Commission, Poland and Australia. For example, France, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden and Slovenia refused to participate.
The head of Slovak diplomacy Juraj Blanár (Smer-SD) did not take a clear position on the offer, which increased the pressure on the former advisor to Prime Minister Robert Fico to Eduard Chmelár. „Let the Fitz government not even think about flirting with Trump’s peace council.” he said forcefully via Facebook.
The political analyst recalled the minister’s statement, in which he repeated that experts from his department are evaluating possibilities and risks. “If the ministry’s experts are evaluating such a clear matter all week, it is high time to look for other experts,” remarked Chmelár, according to whom it is not a professional question.
“When the Minister of Defense Robert Kaliňák started speculating in the Sunday televised discussion as to whether it was a presidential treaty at all, it sounded as if the government was seriously considering joining the Peace Council, thus bypassing the parliament and the president. But that is out of the question.” wrote that the head of state cannot be bypassed.
He added that if the government constantly emphasizes the need to comply with international law, it has no reason to hesitate on this issue. “The Peace Council is in direct contradiction to the spirit and letter of the UN Charter. It has no organs and instruments to oversee, secure or enforce peace. It is not inclusive but exclusive, it is not for everyone, there is no equality of nations, not even equality of great powers. We would have much less authority and influence in it than in the UN, we would have to support everything that Emperor Donald thinks up,” the political analyst explained.
“I would like to believe that the Fico government is only afraid of the consequences of rejecting Trump’s invitation and that it is not enthusiastic about this project. Under certain circumstances, it can be really dangerous not to be in the same group as Hungary. But our history, our turning points in 1848, 1944 and 1968 showed us what Alexander Dubček highlighted at the end of his life – namely, that a moral victory can emerge from a military defeat, but never from a moral defeat,” he added.
According to Chmelár, relying on Trump’s current dominance is unusually short-sighted, and in the long run it could backfire on Slovakia. “All the more so because this government has chosen sovereignty as its mantra, but with such a “contract with the devil” it would definitively give it up,” he emphasized.
“With a military agreement with the USA, a nuclear agreement with the USA and a peace agreement with the USA, we would become so dangerously dependent on the United States that we would not only be their de facto vassals, but the very existence of the Slovak Republic would also depend on this declining superpower. In other words, we would be putting our future in the hands of the “leader of the free world” Donald Trump, a formula once recited by Josef Tiso to Adolf Hitler” remarked Chmelár.
“I appeal to the government of the Slovak Republic not to go astray and lose track of values. Until now, it has correctly followed its geopolitical compass when it came to the conclusion that the strongest guarantee of our sovereignty is the observance of international law, which can always be invoked in the courts – even if it is questioned, violated or trampled upon. Where there is imperial America, international law does not exist,” he concluded.
The position of the Slovak Prime Minister
In the meantime, Fico declared that, in his opinion, Slovakia should reject the invitation to the Peace Council. “We are not in favor of creating some parallel structures that we don’t know everything about,” he stated at Tuesday’s press conference. He does not agree with the billion membership or the cancellation of existing international institutions. The government will deal with the topic at Wednesday’s (January 28) meeting.
“I think that, with great thanks, the Slovak Republic should reject this invitation and we should not pursue it any further. Nevertheless, Slovakia will be among the countries that have always called and will continue to call for peace.” announced the prime minister.
According to him, existing international institutions such as the UN should be reformed, not abolished. “As Slovakia, we are very interested in becoming a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2028-2029, and we ask our partners to support our membership on all our visits,” he reminded. As he stated, he is also not sure whether the Peace Council should be a general body for several cases, or whether it is only an ad hoc institution with a temporary character to deal with the situation in the Gaza Strip.
He also objects to the membership amounting to a billion dollars. “The Government of the Slovak Republic will never spend any member money to join a similar institution,” declared Fico. The Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Juraj Blanár, is also against the accession of Slovakia to the Peace Council. He informed that the Department of Diplomacy analyzed the impact of possible membership in the Peace Council on the national legal order, as well as obligations in international organizations.
