Fico heads to China to meet Putin and Kim Jong-un. He will receive Zelensky in Slovakia upon his return

Fico's meeting with Putin in China was confirmed by Kremlin advisor Yuri Ušakov on Sunday. He did not specify when and what they would discuss, and the Slovak Government Offices also kept the details secret until yesterday evening. The only information about the prime minister's program since the beginning of August was that on September 3, which falls on a Wednesday, he will participate in a huge military parade in Beijing, which is part of the celebrations of the end of World War II and the surrender of Japan.

After the departure meeting in Senica, the head of the cabinet said that he was leaving"on the night from Monday to Tuesday" and would return "on the night from Thursday to Friday". According to online radars, two flights of Slovak government specials were scheduled for Asia on Monday. One Airbus was supposed to take off at 5 p.m., the other at 9:30 p.m. Both with a stop in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, probably for refueling.

The first plane departed in the early evening for its final destination in Japan, with Parliament Speaker Richard Raši (Hlas), and the second should be Fico with a delegation from the protocol and press departments.

The Russian leader traveled to his neighbors on Sunday for a two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). He is also scheduled to attend a tour of Chinese military equipment. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also arrived at the summit. As The Guardian reports, in the case of the latter, it was his first visit in seven years.

Fico on the meeting between Trump and Zelensky in Washington

He will accept Zelensky

Juraj Marušiak, a political scientist at the Institute of Political Science of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, notes that Fico is the only prime minister of a European Union (EU) member state to be present at the celebrations. He noted that Hungary and Bulgaria sent their representatives at a lower level.

"Among the NATO member states, apart from Slovakia, only Turkey is participating in the celebrations and summit at the highest level as part of a group of 16 official partner and observer countries. For Fico, as he himself emphasizes, negotiations with the President of the Russian Federation Putin and also with representatives of China are key. Of course, Slovakia is not a member of the SCO or BRICS, and has not yet openly discussed such a possibility," the political scientist told Pravda.

Fico responded before the summer that Slovak foreign policy is sovereign, peaceful and oriented towards all four cardinal points, based on respect for international law and accepted commitments.

"I am also a realist, therefore our foreign policy positions are not transformed into lofty empty formulations, but take into account our Slovak possibilities. In accordance with the Slovak foreign policy defined in this way, I accepted an invitation to the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in China. I respect every single victim of the fight against fascism, which is why I stood respectfully in front of the monuments in Moscow, Normandy and Washington," he said in the early evening.

He is personally sorry and does not understand why only the Slovak Republic will be represented in Beijing from the EU member states."A new world order is being created, new rules of a multipolar world, a new balance of power, which is extremely important for stability in the world. Being part of such discussions means supporting dialogue and not playing the offended little child. This is how the EU and its representatives behave today," the prime minister said.

According to him, heads of state representing billions of people will be in China. Fico confirmed that he will hold bilateral meetings with Xi Jinping, Putin and other statesmen present."After returning from Beijing on Thursday evening, I will move to eastern Slovakia to have a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday," he announced.

Leaders from the"axis of coup"

Putin is not the only one the Smer leader may be joining. Chinese President Xi Jinping has also invited North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and Iranian President Massoud Pesekian to the celebrations. As The Guardian notes, analysts have dubbed the silent alliance of powers that includes Russia, the DPRK, Iran and China the"axis of revolution." These Asian states are known for their opposition to the Western way of life. The foursome in Beijing will be joined by the head of the Myanmar junta, who rarely travels abroad, along with other representatives of the global south.

Putin has had an international arrest warrant issued for more than two years for his actions in Ukraine. He launched a major military attack on our neighbor in February 2022. The International Criminal Court believes he is responsible for the war crime of illegally deporting children and their illegal transfer from the occupied territories of Ukraine to Russia. This means that if Putin were to visit Slovakia, for example, the police would have to arrest him. Slovakia is a member of the International Criminal Court.

Marušiak explained that if we look at the guest list, most of them are stable partnerships within the SCO and the BRICS economic grouping. Both organizations are led by China and Russia.

"Overall, however, this is a heterogeneous group of states. Several other states are interested in weakening the dominance of the West. They perceive Russia and China as potential security and economic partners for various reasons, and many states would like to take the place of Western partners in Russia in connection with the sanctions imposed by the US and the EU," he told Pravda.

US President Donald Trump can also take credit in this regard. As Marušiak pointed out, by imposing tariffs on goods from India, he contributed to its rapprochement with China. This is also noted by the British daily, according to which Modi visited China at a time when relations between India and Washington had cooled. He flew to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping just a few days after the US doubled tariffs on Indian exports to 50 percent for refusing to stop buying Russian oil.

PS called on the Prime Minister to cancel his trip to China

Two with Vučić

But who will be missing are the leaders from the West. There was a brief hint that one of the guests could be Trump. In addition to the still most powerful man in the world, the most powerful European leaders will not come to Beijing either. Only Serbian President Aleksander Vučić headed to Beijing with Fico.

The Slovak-Serbian duo will not have a premiere in front of Putin. They visited Moscow together in May during the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Shortly after arriving in the Russian capital, Vučić described the meeting with Fico as a"brotherly meeting" with the message "Serbs and Slovaks, brothers forever!", while also publishing a photo of himself shaking hands with the head of the Slovak government.

After all, it was the Serbian head of state who, before Christmas, revealed Fico and his plans to hold talks with the Russian leader before Christmas Day."As far as I know unofficially, and when I say 'unofficially'... it's certain - on Monday Fico will go to Putin as the leader of an EU country, and I don't need to tell you what reaction he will cause from other European leaders," Vučić said at the time.

Belgrade has been applying for EU membership since December 2009, and accession negotiations began more than a decade ago. On the other hand, Vučić has no problem visiting the war aggressor in Moscow. Marušiak explained that Slovakia and Serbia differ significantly from other EU member states in their foreign policy, which compensates for tense relations with European institutions.

The political scientist from the Slovak Academy of Sciences says that the concept of a kind of bridge between East and West is alive in Slovakia and Serbia."However, in both countries, there are also tendencies to change the political system according to the model of China, or the Russian Federation. The Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic recently declared inspiration from the regimes of Central Asia, or China and Vietnam. So it is certainly also a message to EU representatives and the domestic public in both countries," he explained.

Third time in nine months

Fico is one of the few European politicians who have shaken hands with Putin since the start of the major invasion of Ukraine. He visited him not only at the end of last year, but also held talks with him in the spring of this year. Marušiak is convinced that Fico's September trip will weaken Slovakia's credibility in the eyes of its EU and NATO partners and it will be perceived as a weaker link.

So how do we read Fico's reasons for participating in the celebrations alongside dictators? The political scientist believes that Fico can expect gains from his voters within domestic politics rather than on the international level. And if so, then at most symbolic recognition from Russia, the expert believes.

"Fico has repeatedly expressed his belief that in this way Slovakia can play a key role in the possible normalization of relations between the EU and Russia after the end of the war in Ukraine. As in the past, in the present, however, in my opinion, the ideas of Slovakia as a country with a special mission in relations between the West and the East are an illusion; for Russia, strong players have always been key partners," he continued.

It is questionable whether Fico's trip to China will also bring economic opportunities to Slovakia or whether it is just a formal participation in the event without concrete results. Marušiak emphasized that it is economically firmly anchored in the European Union and this framework defines the possibilities of cooperation with third parties.

"Several Central and Eastern European countries had illusions about a massive influx of Chinese investments, but these have not been confirmed for the most part, quite the opposite. Overall, the Chinese project of economic expansion into the Central and Eastern European region, originally referred to as 17+1, is stagnating, several countries have withdrawn from it directly or are not participating in it, and since 2021, multilateral summits in this format have not even been organized," he explained.

According to the political scientist, China itself has declared disappointment with the results that such a format has brought."On the other hand, imports of products from China and Asian countries are increasing and it is necessary to compensate for the trade deficit in relation to them," he added.