Slovak FM Blanar says he "cannot imagine Ukraine in EU"

He said this in an interview with Štandard.

"This is a really serious question. Well, under the current circumstances, I cannot imagine it. I wonder myself how, for example, (President of the European Commission - ed.) Ursula von der Leyen will justify the membership proposal or the start of negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the European Union and answer the question of how we can start negotiations with a country that is in a military conflict," the diplomat said.

At the same time, he does not deny that Ukraine should have a European integration perspective, but it must also fulfil all the criteria, and "no exceptions are accepted".

"Personally, I believe that Ukraine's membership in the EU is very, very far away. We refuse to approach this politically, and the only thing we support is that Ukraine should have a perspective in the future, but according to all the rules, as other countries do," Blanar said.

"From our side, this is a positive signal for Ukraine. If you want, we offer a place for negotiations, but you have a very long way to go," he stressed.

At the same time, the Slovak Foreign Minister reiterated that his country condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"We agree that we want Ukraine to be democratic. We agree that there should be peace in Ukraine. And that Ukraine should be integral in terms of territory, because we condemn the violation of international law through the violation of integrity," Blanard said.

As a reminder, on 8 November, the European Commission recommended starting the process of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU.

New Slovak government's stance on war in Ukraine

On October 26, the new Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, told the European Commission that he would not provide military assistance to Ukraine. The country will limit itself to humanitarian support. This was part of his election campaign, which helped Fico win the parliamentary elections.

The politician also said that the 50 billion euros of EU aid to Ukraine should include guarantees that the funds will not be misappropriated. Robert Fico called Ukraine one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

And on November 6, the new head of the Slovak government clarified that he would not prohibit private companies from providing weapons to Ukraine.

In early November, Blanar said that he did not believe in Ukraine's victory on the battlefield.